Citation

Williams JL, Racette EH, Hernandez-Tejada MA, Acierno RE. J. Interpers. Violence 2017; ePub(ePub): 886260517715604.

Affiliation

Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Charleston, SC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260517715604

PMID

29294807

Abstract

Elder abuse, including emotional, physical, sexual, financial, and neglectful mistreatment is widespread in the United States, with as much as 11% of community-residing older adults experiencing some form of abuse in the past year. Little data exist regarding the prevalence of polyvictimization, or experience of multiple forms of abuse, which may exacerbate negative outcomes over that of any one form of victimization in isolation. This study evaluates the prevalence of elder polyvictimization among a nationally representative sample of community-residing U.S. older adults. Data from the National Elder Mistreatment Study were examined using bivariate and logistic regression analyses. Approximately, 1.7% of older adults experienced past-year polyvictimization, for which risk factors included problems accomplishing activities of daily living (odds ratio [OR] = 2.47), low social support (OR = 1.64), and past experience of traumatic events (OR = 4.81). Elder polyvictimization is a serious problem affecting community-residing older adults with identifiable targets for intervention.

Language: en

Keywords

adult victims; domestic violence; elder abuse; sexual assault