Childhood Trauma Leads to Poor Health in Old Age

Particularly for those who suffered violence, childhood trauma can have long-lasting effects that include physical and cognitive deficits.

It is well known that having a rough childhood can result in a variety of health problems as a young or middle-aged adult, but UC San Francisco researchers have now, for the first time, connected unfavorable early-life experiences to lifetime health implications.

They discovered that older U.S. persons who had a history of traumatic or stressful experiences as kids had a higher likelihood of developing physical and cognitive impairments as they aged. Childhood stressors can include parental separation, serious sickness, exposure to physical abuse or violence, or financial stress.

According to the research, which will be published on August 2, 2023, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, people who experienced violence as children had a 40% higher risk of mobility impairment and an 80% higher risk of trouble doing daily tasks. A minor cognitive impairment was 40% more likely to exist in those from unhappy homes.

We looked at self-reported disability, as well as objectively measured physical and cognitive impairment, and learned that early life stressful experiences can have ramifications all the way into older age,” said senior author Alison J. Huang, MD, a UCSF professor of medicine and director of research in General Internal Medicine at UCSF Health.

“This can mean a higher likelihood of difficulty walking, or carrying out activities of daily living, or problems with memory when people are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, or older,” she said.

The underlying cause of a lifetime of diseases

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 60% of adults in the United States have gone through one or more forms of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which can damage a child’s feeling of stability or safety. Chronic physical and mental health conditions like depression, diabetes, autoimmune illness, and cardiovascular disease are linked to this. However, despite older persons bearing the largest burden of the majority of health issues, there is little research describing the health effects of ACEs across the lifespan.

The first state to provide commercial insurance coverage for early stressful or traumatic experiences in both infants and adults was California in 2021. Similar legislation is being considered or is already in effect in eight additional states. Due to its unknown effect on long-term health and potential strain on the healthcare system, this type of screening is still debatable.

The current study looked at over 3,400 participants, slightly more than half of whom were female, who ranged in age from 50 to 97 and resided in community settings, using data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, a national cohort of older U.S. adults. Participants answered questions concerning ACEs and conducted tests of cognition and memory, as well as balance and walking. Their level of difficulty carrying their daily tasks was also evaluated.

44% of those surveyed said they had experienced at least one ACE between the ages of 6 and 16. Among these were being the victim of violence (14%), seeing violence (16%), being under financial strain (13%), being separated from a parent (16%), and being in bad health (6%) as a child. More than one negative childhood experience was mentioned by one in five people.

“Given how common ACEs were among our participants, it shows that stressful early life experiences may be markers of risk of functional impairment and disability later in life,” said first author and UCSF medical student Victoria M. Lee. This raises implications for geriatric care: early recognition of childhood trauma may be useful in identifying adults who might benefit from screening or prevention strategies for aging-associated functional decline.

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