Childhood disability and late-life resilience and ageing perception

Abstract Background Resilience is a key coping recourse and skill set that reflect self-efficacy, control, and optimistic view, which help older adults better adapt to ageing adversities or late-life transitions. This study examines how early experiences of disability play a role in shaping one's ageing trajectories, influencing ageing perceptions and resilience. Methods Data were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, yielding 38,654 observations. The baseline sample (HRS 2010-2012) comprised 20,056 individuals aged 50 and older (mean = 66.30 ± 11.14 years; 58.0% females; 3.9% reported childhood disability). The sample data included information about respondents’ childhood conditions (health as child, SES, relationship with parents), subjective aging perceptions, and resilience in old-age. Employing multilevel structural equation modeling, outcomes variables were compared between and within groups (childhood disability vs. no childhood disability). Covariates included socio-demographic and health variables. Results The subgroup with childhood disability showed significantly lower levels of resilience and positive development of ageing perceptions at baseline compared to their no childhood disability peers. Over the 4-year follow up period, however, no significant group differences were observed. Resilience tended to decline in both groups with age over time. While the effect of childhood disability on resilience and ageing perceptions varied, one of the covariates, a good relationship with mother consistently and significantly related to late-life resilience. Conclusions While childhood adversities are often considered life-long disadvantages that hinder positive development over the life course, the findings suggest that childhood disability may not always impact late-life negatively. Additionally, the retrospective, self-reported measure of childhood disability may be nuanced extending, beyond a negative value in their lives.