Aging and resilience in Vietnamese American older adults: Evidence from the Vietnamese Insights into Cognitive Aging Program

Objectives Vietnamese American older adults have endured early life adversity and war-related trauma exposures, which are associated with worse aging outcomes. However, not all individuals experience poor outcomes, suggesting the possibility of protective factors. We examined associations between early life adversity, war-related exposures, and later life outcomes, and whether later life resilience moderated these associations. Design This was a cross-sectional study. Setting Enrollment occurred at two community-based sites in California. Participants Participants were from the Vietnamese Insights into Cognitive Aging Program (VIP), a longitudinal cohort study of older Vietnamese Americans. Measurements Predictors included war-related exposures, early life adversity, and psychological resilience. Outcome variables were depression symptoms, perceived stress, and global cognition. Results We analyzed data for 511 participants in VIP (mean age=72.6, SD=5.1). A jointly-estimated moderation model using Bayesian linear regression revealed conditional associations of wartime evacuation/displacement with greater depression symptoms (β = 0.183, 95% CI [0.085, 0.280]), and exposure to harsh conditions and witnessing death with greater perceived stress at the mean level of resiliency (β = 0.160, 95% CI [0.046, 0.270]). Greater resilience attenuated the strength of association between exposure to harsh conditions and witnessing death with depression symptoms (β = −0.111, 95% CI [-0.200, −0.023]). Conclusions These findings potentially support stress-buffering theories and identify resilience as a possible protective factor in this older Vietnamese American sample. Results underscore the need for longitudinal studies to examine the role of resilience in buffering early life adversity on late life health and well-being.