Associations of war-related exposures and early life adversity with late-life cognition

We examined associations of early life adversity (ELA) and war exposures with late-life cognition of participants in the Vietnamese Insights into Cognitive Aging Program (VIP).

Participants completed psychosocial and neuropsychological assessments, the latter including measures of global cognition, executive function, semantic memory, episodic memory, and visuospatial skills. Principal component analysis identified four war exposure components (harsh conditions and witnessing death, personal life threat/endangerment, family endangerment, and displacement) that were included in multivariable Bayesian regression models and an ELA composite.

VIP participants' (N = 548) mean age was 73 years, and 55% were women. Having been displaced was associated with lower executive function, but greater ELA was associated with better executive function and language scores. Family endangerment was associated with poorer visuospatial skills. Depression and gender moderated associations between the exposures and cognition.

Both war exposures and ELA likely impact cognitive aging in nuanced ways.