Abstract
Elder abuse (EA) affects one in six older adults, and financial EA, a common subtype, severely impacts victims and society. Understanding victim vulnerability and perpetrator risk factors is essential to EA prevention and management. The limited existing evidence about these factors in relation to EA types suggests that financial EA is different. In a cross-sectional quantitative analysis of secondary data (N = 1,238), we investigated EA vulnerability and risk factors, and victim–perpetrator family relationship, with respect to different EA types (financial only, financial co-occurring with other types, and nonfinancial abuse). Financial abuse-only cases had the lowest prevalence of vulnerability and risk factors. Most of these factors, and a familial relationship, were significantly more common in cases involving other EA types. Findings indicate that financial abuse, occurring in isolation, is distinct from other EA types. Risk assessment and future research should consider financial abuse separately to other EA forms.
Highlights
Elder abuse (EA) can be defined as “a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, occurring within a relationship of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020, para. 2)
This one-size-fits-all approach is criticized by Jackson and Hafemeister (2011), who attribute some of the inconsistency of findings in the field of EA to the lack of acknowledgment of different dynamics and risk factors depending on abuse type
This study investigated EA by comparing cases involving financial abuse only, financial abuse that co-occurs with other abuse types, and EA that is not financial in nature
Summary
Elder abuse (EA) ( known as older adult abuse, mistreatment, or maltreatment) can be defined as “a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, occurring within a relationship of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020, para. 2). Notwithstanding the diversity of abuse types, abusive behaviors, and the suggestion that financial abuse may be a distinct type, EA has been traditionally studied as a whole (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). This one-size-fits-all approach is criticized by Jackson and Hafemeister (2011), who attribute some of the inconsistency of findings in the field of EA to the lack of acknowledgment of different dynamics and risk factors depending on abuse type. Weissberger and colleagues (2020) found that family members were more likely to engage in poly-victimization as compared to nonrelative perpetrators
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