Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Later Life: Exploring Rural/Urban and Gender Differences Using CHARLS

This paper aims to examine whether and how adverse childhood experiences are associated with mild cognitive impairment among middle-aged and older adults in China, and if the associations vary by gender and rural/urban residence. Using four waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, cox proportional hazard models were applied. Results showed that the rural and female subsamples were significantly disadvantaged and were more likely to be cognitively impaired. Moreover, childhood family socioeconomic status and childhood social relationships were significantly associated with the risk of mild cognitive impairment for the study sample. Our findings suggest that, for middle-aged and older Chinese adults, adverse childhood experiences could have long-lasting impacts on cognitive functioning throughout the life course.