War and remembrance: Combat exposure in young adulthood and memory function sixty years later

Identifying adaptive ways to cope with extreme stress is essential to promoting long-term health. Memory systems are highly sensitive to stress, and combat exposure during war has been shown to have deleterious effects on cognitive processes, such as memory, decades later. No studies have examined coping styles used by combat veterans and associations with later-life cognitive functioning. Defenses are coping mechanisms that manage difficult memories and feelings, with some more closely related to memory processes (e.g., suppression, repression). Utilizing a longitudinal database, we assessed how reliance on certain defense mechanisms after World War II combat exposure could affect cognitive health 60years later.

Data spanning 75years were available on 71 men who had post-war assessment of combat exposure, defense mechanism ratings (ages 19-50), and late-life neuropsychological testing. Interaction models of combat exposure with defenses predicting late-life memory were examined.

In bivariate analyses, greater reliance on suppression correlated with worse memory performance (r=-0.30, p=.01), but greater reliance on repression did not. Greater reliance on suppression strengthened the link between combat exposure and worse memory in late life (R²=0.24, p<.001). In contrast, greater reliance on repression attenuated the link between combat exposure and poorer late-life memory (R²=0.19, p<.001).

Results suggest that coping styles may affect the relationship between early-adult stress and late-life cognition. Findings highlight the importance of understanding how coping styles may impact cognitive functioning as people move through adult life.