How Early Experiences Affect Older Adults

Our early experiences – good and bad – can continue to affect us well into later life, so when supporting older adults, we need to consider how these experiences may still influence individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.

Only when we understand the underlying causes of behaviour and the role that early experiences play can we begin to formulate the best supports for older adults in our care.

Early experiences that affect older adults

There are a number of different early experiences that can have an enduring impact, and result in behaviour that needs support amongst older adults.

Read our article, ‘Trauma-Informed Practices: How Experiences Influence Behaviour’.

It’s worth noting that the impact of potentially traumatic experiences can be more severe for individuals with a learning disability, as they may not fully understand the complexities of what is happening.

Attachment issues and relational trauma

Strong relationships with those around us are important: they can make us feel safe and help us to learn about ourselves and others. Children first learn how to receive care by prompting adults around them to respond to cues, such as crying or holding arms out. This promotes physical closeness and enables safe, fulfilling relationships to flourish. This is known as attachment.

Relational trauma, sometimes known as attachment trauma, relates to psychological and emotional harm in the context of a relationship. It refers to situations where an individual feels unsafe, unsupported or rejected by key people in their life, such as a caregiver, family member, or friend.

If difficult early relationships cause an individual to feel unsafe, their bodies may be primed to respond to ongoing or existing relationships as though they could be threatening later in life. Individuals who have experienced relational trauma can regularly be in the ‘fight or flight’ mode of the brain, or have this system triggered very easily.