Childhood maltreatment and cognitive functioning from young adulthood to late midlife: A prospective study

The negative consequences of childhood maltreatment have been documented across multiple domains, including cognitive functioning in midlife. This study examined the impact of childhood maltreatment on cognitive functioning into late midlife, changes over time, and the extent to which cognitive change over time predicted functional impairment.

We use data from a prospective cohort design study in which individuals with documented histories of childhood maltreatment (ages 0-11 years) and demographically matched controls without those histories were interviewed over five study waves: 1989-1995 (N = 1,196; M_age = 29.2 years), 2000-2002 (N = 896; M_age = 39.5 years), 2003-2005 (N = 808; M_age = 41.2 years), 2009-2010 (N = 649; M_age = 47.0 years), and 2022-2023 (N = 447; M_age = 59.4). Tasks assessing verbal intelligence, processing speed, and executive functioning were administered at multiple points, permitting examination of changes over time. The eight-item Informant Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia assessed self-perceived change in functioning associated with dementing disorders. Linear mixed effects and structural equation models were used.

Childhood maltreatment predicted poorer performance on cognitive tasks in young adulthood and late midlife, except for Stroop, and predicted a steeper decline in performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised and Trails B. Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised, Matrix Reasoning, and Trails A and B change scores predicted greater perceived functional decline on the eight-item Informant Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia, whereas childhood maltreatment did not.

The effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive functioning continue into late midlife, with worse performance on tasks assessing general intelligence, abstract visual reasoning, processing speed, and set-shifting compared with controls. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).