The moderating effects of perceived control on relationships between trauma exposure in childhood and cognitive health in adulthood

Objectives: Exposures to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) in childhood have been linked to changes in cognitive health in later life. Perceived control is an important psychosocial resource that may serve as a potential buffer against these deleterious effects. We hypothesized that the detrimental impact of childhood PTE exposure on cognitive health would be attenuated among those with higher perceived control. Methods: Adults ranging from 28 to 84 years old at baseline (N = 4,512) from the Midlife in the United States study (M_age = 55.4, 54.9% female, 82.4% white) completed surveys on potentially traumatic childhood events, perceived control, and a telephone-based battery of tests measuring executive function (EF) and episodic memory (EM) in ∼2005 and ten years later in ∼2015. Results: Findings from multilevel models indicate that perceived control buffered the detrimental impacts of childhood PTE on cognitive health. More childhood PTE exposure was associated with a steeper rate of decline in EF among people with lower control (−1 SD; b = −0.35, SE = 0.02, p < .001) compared with people with higher control (+1 SD; b = −0.31, SE = 0.02, p < .001). In exploratory analyses, higher levels of emotional neglect were associated with worse EF only among those with lower perceived control (−1 SD; b = −0.01, SE = 0.01, p = .029). Perceived control did not moderate the effects of childhood PTE on EM (ps > .05). Discussion: A strengths-based approach is relevant for understanding the lifetime impacts of early life adversities on later life cognitive health outcomes.