Childhood maltreatment, cognitive performance, and cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults with chronic disease: A prospective study

Objectives

Childhood maltreatment (CM) may increase the risk for cognitive deficits and dementia later in life. However, most research has been cross-sectional in nature, has typically focused on specific types of CM, and rarely examined individual differences. The objectives are to evaluate 1) if CM predicts poorer cognitive performance and greater cognitive decline over a 5-year follow-up in older men and women with coronary artery disease (CAD) or other non-cardiovascular (non-CVD) chronic disease, and whether 2) sex and CAD status influence these relations.

Methods

Men and women (N = 1254; 39.6 % women; 65.6 ± 7.0 years old) with CAD or other non-CVD chronic diseases completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (CTQ-SF). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was administered twice at 5-year intervals. Main analyses included bivariate correlations, hierarchical analyses and moderation analyses controlling for sociodemographic and health parameters.

Results

CM was experienced by 32 % of the sample, while scores suggestive of cognitive deficits were obtained by 32.7 % and 40.2 % at study onset and follow-up, respectively. CM was associated with significantly lower MoCA scores at study onset (b = −0.013, p = 0.020), but not with change in MoCA over time (b = −0.002, p = 0.796). While MoCA scores did differ as a function of sex and CAD status, the latter did not influence the relations between maltreatment and MoCA.

Conclusions

CM predicted poorer cognitive functioning among older individuals with chronic diseases but did not play a role in any further cognitive decline over the follow-up period. Further research is needed to help understand the mechanisms implicated.