Incident traumatic experiences and poor financial well-being: A double hit for cognitive decline?

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic experiences in older age may accelerate cognitive decline, especially when experienced alongside financial hardship.

METHODS: In data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2020), we estimated linear mixed-effects models stratified by financial well-being to estimate the effect of incident traumatic experiences on memory decline, adjusted for childhood and adulthood sociodemographics.

RESULTS: In  = 3432 participants, incident traumatic experiences appeared associated with lower baseline memory score (  = -0.015, 9 -0.053 to 0.023) and faster decline (  = -0.007, 95% CI = -0.012 to --0.001). Observed associations were larger in those with worse financial well-being (baseline memory score:  = -0.070, 95% CI = -0.200 to 0.060; memory decline:  = -0.016, 95% CI = -0.033 to 0.001) versus better financial well-being (baseline memory score:  = -0.008, 95% CI = -0.047 to 0.031; memory decline:  =- 0.006, 95% CI = -0.012 to 0.000), but the confidence intervals for these estimates included values consistent with no association.

DISCUSSION: The cognitive impacts of incident traumatic events may be stronger for individuals with poor financial well-being. Future research should confirm our findings and evaluate underlying mechanisms.

HIGHLIGHTS: Experiencing an incident trauma in older age predicted accelerated memory decline.This association was strongest for participants with worse financial well-being.Experiencing trauma alongside scarcity may be a double-hit for cognitive decline.