Sources and Variations in Social Support and Risk for Elder Mistreatment in a US Chinese Population

Elder abuse victimization, mental health, and protective factors

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the association between elder abuse and depressive symptoms, as well as protective factors against adverse mental health outcomes from elder abuse.

METHODS

Participants were drawn from the 5928 graduates of the WLS, Wave 3 study (age range 70-73) who completed both in-person and telephone interviews. From this large group, 975 (16.4%) participants reported having experienced elder abuse and were included in the sample. Path analysis using Mplus was employed.

RESULTS

Elder abuse victimization was significantly associated with depressive symptoms, and those who had suffered multiple types of elder abuse experienced more severe mental health outcomes. However, both light physical activity conducted alone and having a friend as a confidant were negatively associated with depressive symptoms among older adults who had experienced elder abuse.

CONCLUSION

Given the significant association between elder abuse and negative mental health outcomes among older survivors, screening and prevention programs are recommended. Older adults who have experienced elder abuse may benefit from programs designed to increase physical activity and help older adults build and maintain close relationships with friends and confidants.

A Systematic Review: Risk and Protective Factors of Elder Abuse for Community-Dwelling Racial Minorities

Elder abuse is related to numerous adverse health and mental health conditions in older adults and some studies indicated higher rates of elder abuse in ethnic and racial minority populations than non-Hispanic Whites. This current study aims to summarize the risk and protective factors associated with elder abuse in community-dwelling racial minorities. A systematic review was conducted following Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. AgeLine, Medline, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched without limitation on time periods of publication. Two authors independently screened the search results and assessed the eligibility and quality of the retrieved articles. A total of 718 articles were screened and 25 articles were included in the review. The 25 included studies' publication dates range from 1989 to 2019. Five racial categories were generated: African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and racial minorities in Canada. Risk and protective factors of elder abuse and its subtypes (e.g., physical and psychological abuse) for these racial groups were summarized. There are some common risk factors across racial minorities, such as dependence on caregivers and health issues. The review identified gaps and conflicting findings regarding culture and education that are worthy of further investigation. In particular, there is a lack of current research on elder abuse in racial minority older women, race minority subgroups, and protective factors of elder abuse. The results guide helping professionals to consider the role of traditional culture and identify warning signs of potential abuse among racial minority older adults.

The relationship between social support and dimensions of elder maltreatment: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS

Many studies have investigated the relationship between social support and the prevention of elder abuse; however, their results are somehow inconsistent in terms of the association. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the published studies on the relationship between social support and the prevention of elder maltreatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An electronic search was conducted until January 2023, using such databases as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The present research included cross-sectional, longitudinal, and case-control studies. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted by two researchers independently. The Newcastle-Ottawa checklist was utilized to evaluate the quality of studies. The random effects model was employed to perform a meta-analysis.

RESULTS

In total, 32 studies were included in this systematic review, out of which 26 articles were eligible for meta-analysis. The results showed that 68.75% of the studies were of high quality, and there is a significant relationship between social support and elder maltreatment. Accordingly, the lack of social support increased overall maltreatment (odds ratio: 1.24, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-1.33; I2 = 92.3%, p = 0.000)). Moreover, lack of social support had an increasing effect on the level of psychological abuse (1.55, 1.18-2.04; 88.7%, p = 0.000), physical abuse (1.31, 0.42-4.11; 76.3%, p = 0.005), and neglect (2.02, 0.86-4.72; 87.9%, p = 0.000), which shows heterogeneities among the results of the included studies. On the contrary, the lack of social support showed a decreasing effect on financial abuse (0.92, 0.70-1.21; 62.1%, p = 0.022).

CONCLUSION

This systematic review provides evidence that social support in the form of structural or functional support may plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the elderly.

The association between elder abuse and refrainment from daily activities during the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in Japan: A cross-sectional study from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study

Objectives

Elder abuse is a public health issue that is thought to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lockdowns and behavioral restrictions. This study examines the association between elder abuse and refrainment from daily activities during the pandemic.

Methods

We used data from a self-administered mail survey conducted by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) from November 2020 to February 2021 in 11 municipalities. Our participants included 18,263 older adults (age ≥65 years) who were independent in their daily lives. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between elder abuse and refrainment from 10 daily activities, and the total number of refrained behaviors.

Results

Experiences of abuse were reported by 288 participants (1.6%). The risk of elder abuse was 1.37 times (95% confidence interval, 1.04–1.81) higher among those who refrained from shopping for food and daily necessities and 1.60 times (1.20–2.13) higher among those who refrained from interaction with neighbors, than those who did not. Also, a dose-response relationship was observed where the risk of abuse increased with the number of restrictions.

Conclusion

The risk of elder abuse increased as the number of refrained behaviors increased which suggests that refrainment from multiple behaviors may significantly increase the risk of elder abuse, compared with refrainment from a single behavior. To avoid increasing the risk of abuse in likely future pandemics, it is necessary to maintain social connections without face-to-face contact, or with adequate infection control measures.

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The risk of elder abuse was higher among those who refrained from shopping for food and daily necessities and from interaction with neighbors.

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The risk of abuse increased as the number of refrained behaviors increased.

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Our results illustrate that refraining from multiple behaviors may be significantly associated with an increased risk of abuse over that of refraining from a single behavior.

Life Course Violence: Child Maltreatment, IPV, and Elder Abuse Phenotypes in a US Chinese Population

OBJECTIVES

To examine the associations between violence experiences including phenotypes (psychological, physical/sexual abuse, financial exploitation, caregiver neglect) of child maltreatment (CM), intimate partner violence (IPV), and elder abuse (EA).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional data collected during 2011-2013.

SETTING

US Chinese community in Chicago, Illinois.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 3157 community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60 y).

MEASUREMENTS

Cases of CM, IPV, and EA.

RESULTS

Prevalence of violence was 11.4% for CM (physical/sexual = 10.2%; psychological = 2.4%), 6.5% for IPV (psychological = 5.3%; physical/sexual = 2.8%), and 15.2% for EA (caregiver neglect = 11.2%; psychological = 9.8%; financial exploitation = 9.3%; physical/sexual = 1.2%). After adjusting for potential confounding variables, CM psychological was associated with increased risks for IPV psychological (odds ratio [OR] = 7.60; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.29-13.45), IPV physical/sexual (OR = 4.06; CI = 1.71-9.63), EA psychological (OR = 3.79; 95% CI = 2.20-6.51), and EA financial exploitation (OR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.12-3.81). CM physical/sexual was associated with increased risks for IPV physical/sexual (OR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.02-3.38), EA psychological (OR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.20-2.42), and EA financial exploitation (OR = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.72-3.30). IPV psychological and physical/sexual were associated with 5 to 8 times increased risks for EA psychological, 6 to 9 times increased risks for EA physical/sexual, and 3 times increased risks for EA financial exploitation.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare professionals working with older adults should be informed that a history of violence might further predispose a person to different types of EA. The cumulative impact of violence should also be considered when providing services or care to violence victims. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:S486-S492, 2019.

Leveraging Technology to Improve Health Disparity Research: Trilingual Data Collection Using Tablets

Survey research is an essential component of epidemiological research to understand the health of older adults. However, there are several limitations to conventional data collection methods that may serve as barriers for recruitment and retention of research participants, especially from minority populations. With recent technological advancements, our research team developed an innovative data collection and management system to address linguistic and cultural barriers, data quality, data security, and data preparation issues. This platform has been utilized in the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago since 2011. Future use and improvement of this system will facilitate research among minority older adults and increase research participation and representativeness to ultimately understand and improve the health and well-being of diverse populations. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:S479-S485, 2019.