Abstract

Objectives

Anxiety has been associated with childhood abuse/neglect, but this relationship and its mechanisms are poorly documented in older adults. This study examined the association between childhood abuse/neglect and late-life anxiety temporal patterns (i.e. absence, remission, incidence, persistence), testing for mediators.

Methods

Data were derived for 724 French-speaking community-living older adults participating in the Étude sur la santé des ainés – Services study with available information at baseline and 4-year follow-up. Past-month anxiety was based on a cutoff score ≥5 on a French translation of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder at interviews. Questions on childhood abuse/neglect (e.g. psycho-emotional, physical, sexual) were administered. Adjusted multinomial regression analyses and mediation bootstrapping models were used. Tested mediators included traumatic events (excluding childhood abuse/neglect), daily hassles, psychological resilience, and cortisol activity.

Results

The absence, remission, incidence and persistence of anxiety was found in 45.3%, 25.3%, 8.7% and 20.7% of the sample, respectively. Participants with incident and persistent late-life anxiety experienced more childhood abuse/neglect. Participants with persistent anxiety also reported lower psychological resilience. The association between childhood abuse/neglect with anxiety incidence was mediated by daily hassles, while its association with anxiety persistence was mediated by daily hassles and psychological resilience.

Conclusion

Past childhood abuse/neglect was associated with late-life anxiety incidence and persistence, with psychological resilience and daily hassles potentially explaining this relationship. Further research should focus on ascertaining the clinical applications of psychosocial and biological profiles in informing the prevention and personalized treatment of anxiety in older adults.

中文翻译：

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晚年焦虑中的童年虐待/忽视和时间模式

摘要

目标

焦虑与童年虐待/忽视有关，但这种关系及其机制在老年人中的记录很少。本研究检查了童年虐待/忽视与晚年焦虑时间模式（即缺席、缓解、发生率、持续性）之间的关联，并测试了调解员。

方法

数据来自参与Étude sur la santé des ainé s – Services研究的 724 位讲法语社区生活的老年人，并提供基线和 4 年随访时的可用信息。过去一个月的焦虑是基于 7 项广泛性焦虑症的法语翻译在访谈中的截止分数≥5。提出了关于童年虐待/忽视（例如心理-情感、身体、性）的问题。使用调整后的多项式回归分析和中介自举模型。测试的调解因素包括创伤事件（不包括童年虐待/忽视）、日常烦恼、心理弹性和皮质醇活动。

结果

样本中分别有 45.3%、25.3%、8.7% 和 20.7% 的人没有、缓解、发生和持续存在焦虑。有事件和持续性晚年焦虑的参与者经历了更多的童年虐待/忽视。持续焦虑的参与者也报告了较低的心理弹性。童年虐待/忽视与焦虑发生率之间的关联由日常烦恼介导，而其与焦虑持续存在的关联则由日常烦恼和心理复原力介导。

结论

过去的童年虐待/忽视与晚年焦虑的发生率和持续性有关，心理弹性和日常麻烦可能解释了这种关系。进一步的研究应侧重于确定社会心理和生物学特征在为老年人焦虑症的预防和个性化治疗提供信息方面的临床应用。