Associations between parental bonding and subjective and objective cognition in community‐dwelling older adults

BACKGROUND: Although vulnerability factors for cognitive impairment in older adults are well established, the influence of early psychological factors, such as the quality of parental bonds in early childhood, on later-life cognitive performance has been little studied. This study assessed the associations of the quality of perceived maternal and paternal bonding elicited at baseline with subsequent cognitive complaints and objective cognitive performance in older adults after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety or major depressive disorders, and personality traits. METHODS: For this prospective analysis we used data from 943 participants of the population-based CoLaus|PsyCoLaus cohort who had completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) at baseline, and who participated in the first psychiatric evaluation after the age of 65 years involving the completion of a cognitive complaint questionnaire and an objective cognitive exam. Linear regression models were applied to assess the associations of parental bonding quality categories according to the combination of the three dichotomized PBI dimensions with the presence of reported cognitive complaints and measured cognitive performance. RESULTS: Individuals who rated their maternal bonding as least appropriate, characterized by low care, high denial of autonomy and low encouragement of behavioural freedom, reported cognitive complaints more frequently than those who had rated their maternal bonding as most adequate after multiple adjustments. Such an association was not found with respect to paternal bonding. Moreover, parental bonding was not associated with objective cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: Perceived maternal bonding may influence perceived cognitive abilities later in life, but not objective cognitive performance.