Journal of Psychiatry

Abstract

From Hurt to Harm: How Childhood Trauma Shapes Cognitive Control and Decision Making in Late-Life Depression

Naomie Conde, Laura Osborne, Ayla Inja, Josie-Anne Bertrand, Gustavo Turecki and Stéphane Richard- Devantoy*

Objective: To investigate the neuropsychological component features of elderly patients with a history of late-life depression reporting a previous history of Childhood Trauma (CT). 

Methods: Outpatients between 60 and 85 years old with a recent history of late-life depression were divided into two groups, childhood trauma and no childhood trauma, according to a previous history of childhood trauma assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Cognitive abilities were assessed using the stroop color and word test (inhibition), iowa gambling task (decision-making), and verbal fluency test (semantic verbal fluency). 

Results: Total CTQ scores were associated with lower stroop color and word test time scores (p=0.041). Physical Abuse (PA) was associated with a lower Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) net score (p=0.015). Emotional Neglect (EN) was associated with a higher semantic verbal fluency score (p=0.021) and a lower stroop test time score (p=0.037). Emotional abuse, sexual abuse and physical neglect had no neuropsychological pattern. These results remained significant even after controlling for confounding factors including age, gender, level of depression, antidepressant treatment, and history of previous suicide attempts. 

Conclusion: Patients with a history of physical abuse had low decision-making scores and those with a history of emotional neglect had good cognitive control. It is necessary to examine how neurocognitive mechanisms are impacted by childhood traumas to develop therapeutic intervensions that improve cognitive performance in older adults.

Published Date: 2025-11-12; Received Date: 2025-10-13