Adverse childhood events and cognitive function among young adults: Prospective results from the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health

Misty A W Hawkins; Harley M Layman; Kyle T Ganson; Jennifer Tabler; Lucia Ciciolla; Cindy E Tsotsoros; Jason M Nagata

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105008

Adverse childhood events and cognitive function among young adults: Prospective results from the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health

Child Abuse Negl. 2021 May:115:105008. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105008. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Authors

Misty A W Hawkins¹, Harley M Layman², Kyle T Ganson³, Jennifer Tabler⁴, Lucia Ciciolla⁵, Cindy E Tsotsoros⁶, Jason M Nagata⁷

Affiliations

¹ Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology, Stillwater, OK, USA. Electronic address: misty.hawkins@okstate.edu.
² Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology, Stillwater, OK, USA. Electronic address: hlayman@okstate.edu.
³ University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: kyle.ganson@utoronto.ca.
⁴ University of Wyoming, Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, Laramie, WY, USA. Electronic address: jtabler@uwyo.edu.
⁵ Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology, Stillwater, OK, USA. Electronic address: lucia.ciciolla@okstate.edu.
⁶ Oklahoma State University, Department of Psychology, Stillwater, OK, USA. Electronic address: cindy.tsotsoros@okstate.edu.
⁷ University of California, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: jason.nagata@ucsf.edu.

PMID: 33706023
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105008

Abstract

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may have lasting impacts on cognition.

Objective: To determine if ACE exposure is prospectively associated with cognition in young adults. We hypothesized that deprivation- and threat-type ACEs as well as higher cumulative ACE exposure predict poorer cognition.

Participants & setting: Participants were from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a prospective cohort investigation of U.S. adolescents followed to adulthood. Current study participants were 18-24 years old (Wave III), 24-32 years old (Wave IV), and 31-42 years old (Wave V). The maximum Wave IV sample was 12,288 adults; Wave V was 1277 adults.

Methods: History of ACEs were assessed at Wave III. Three cognitive indicators were assessed at Wave IV and Wave V using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (immediate and delayed verbal memory) and the Digit-Span Backward Task (working memory).

Results: The deprivation ACE of not-having-basic-needs met was associated with poorer working (β = 0.14, CI₉₅ -0.26, -0.01), immediate (β=-0.29, CI₉₅ -0.43, -0.15), and delayed memory (β=-0.27, CI₉₅ -0.43, -0.12) at Wave IV; poorer immediate (β=-0.47, CI₉₅-0.79, -0.16) and delayed memory (β=-0.33, CI₉₅ -0.65, -0.01) at Wave V. The threat ACE of sexual abuse was associated with poorer immediate (β=-0.40, CI₉₅ -0.62, -0.17) and delayed memory (β=-0.29, CI₉₅ -0.55, -0.03) at Wave IV. Higher cumulative ACEs predicted poorer delayed memory (β =-0.05, CI₉₅ -0.10, -0.01) at Wave V.

Conclusions: Higher ACEs, especially deprivation-type, were prospectively linked to poorer cognition. Early wide-scale screening/tailored treatments addressing ACEs and cognitive function may be warranted.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Cognitive function; Early life adversity; Executive function; Memory.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Cognition
Cohort Studies
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Prospective Studies
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding