Are Positive Childhood Experiences Linked to Better Cognitive Functioning in Later Life?: Examining the Role of Life Course Pathways

Abstract

Objectives: We examine whether childhood family well-being is associated with cognitive functioning and to what extent the association between the family context and cognitive functioning is explained by adulthood resources. Methods: Data are drawn from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Wave 3 (2015/2016; N = 3361). We measured cognitive functioning using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Childhood family factors included family-life happiness, family structure, and family socioeconomic status. Education, social connectedness, self-mastery, and self-rated health were assessed as adulthood resources. Results: Respondents who grew up in a happy family had significantly higher levels of cognitive functioning. The formal mediation test suggests that a happy family life during childhood has a positive association with later cognition, in part, by enhancing self-mastery in adulthood. Discussion: Our findings provide evidence that positive childhood experiences are linked to later life cognition. The sense of control people have over their life circumstances is one potential pathway explaining this association.

Childhood Experiences and Psychological Distress: Can Benevolent Childhood Experiences Counteract the Negative Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences?

“…Contrary to ACEs, benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) represent the positive experiences before 18 years, which do not depend on higher socioeconomic status in the family of origin. BCEs can not only provide a foundation for creating better family health in adulthood (Daines et al, 2021) but are also linked to various adult mental health outcomes, such as stress, depression (Bethell et al, 2019), forgiveness, family closeness (Crandall et al, 2019), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Narayan et al, 2017;Karatzias et al, 2020), loneliness (Doom et al, 2021), and later life cognition (Lee and Schafer, 2021). BCEs were also significantly associated with adulthood insomnia among young adults (Geng et al, 2021).…”

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Later Life: Exploring Rural/Urban and Gender Differences Using CHARLS

“…Wei et al, 2014 reported an elevated dementia risk among Chinese older adults who experienced the death of a parent early in life. Positive parent–child relationships and happy family dynamics were found to benefit cognitive functioning over time (Lee & Schafer, 2021). In terms of peer relations, research showed that children who lacked friends and felt lonely were at greater risk of developing poor adult health outcomes (Caspi et al, 2006).…”

Multimorbidity patterns across race/ethnicity as stratified by age and obesity

“…African Americans are exposed to more traumatic experiences and stressors, such as discrimination and poverty, earlier on in life, which produces additional health risks and contributes to worse health outcomes in later life 45 , 46 . Although mental health disorders are not prevalent, the earlier emergence of multimorbidity could result from psychological distress at an earlier age 47 .…”

“…Our findings of multiple combinations of four diseases suggest that patients present with complex disease profiles that have likely never been studied before. The level of social vulnerability of particular groups should also be considered, as a significant correlation between social vulnerability and the total number of chronic conditions was previously demonstrated, with depression/anxiety, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases being the most related 47 . Further, these diseases were present in many patterns for various racial groups.…”