Mental Health Correlates of Financial Mistreatment in the National Elder Mistreatment Study Wave II

Abstract

Assessment of mental health is relevant and important in cases of financial abuse.

Physical and mental health correlates of perceived financial exploitation in older adults: Preliminary findings from the Finance, Cognition, and Health in Elders Study (FINCHES)

“…Findings from the present study align well with two recent studies (Acierno et al, 2018;Wood, Liu, Hanoch, & Estevez-Cores, 2016) that also found mental health to be an important correlate of self-reported FE among older adults. Wood et al (2016) found that numeracy (11-item scale), physical and mental health (as indicated by the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, SF-12), younger age, and male sex were related to increased risk of FE.…”

“…Overall, findings suggest greater depressive symptoms in perceived FE older adults, a finding that is consistent with previous research on mental health correlates of FE (Acierno et al, 2018;Beach et al, 2010;FINRA Foundation, 2015;Ganzini et al, 1990;Lichtenberg et al, 2013) and elder abuse more generally (Dong & Simon, 2014;Roepke-Buehler et al, 2015;Santos et al, 2017). Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, it is unclear whether depressive symptoms are a cause or an effect of perceived FE.…”

“…We found a significant difference in the number of medical conditions reported between the perceived FE group and the non-FE group on the Medical History Checklist; however, post-hoc analyses suggest that this was driven by problems with sleep. A previous survey-based study found associations between self-reported FE and poorer self-reported physical health (Acierno et al, 2018). Other population-based studies also report greater rates of hospitalization (Dong & Simon, 2013b), admittance to skilled nursing facilities (Dong & Simon, 2013a), and mortality (Burnett et al, 2016) in older adults who have experienced FE compared to those who have not.…”

“…Wood et al (2016) found that numeracy (11-item scale), physical and mental health (as indicated by the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, SF-12), younger age, and male sex were related to increased risk of FE. Additionally, in a telephone-based survey, Acierno et al (2018) found that past financial mistreatment was associated with an increased likelihood of self-reported depression, increased generalized anxiety and PTSD, and poorer self-rated health. Our study builds upon these findings by examining these relationships in a carefully selected and well-matched sample of older adults who are cognitively healthy.…”

Moving the Field Forward: Elucidating the Nexus Between Elder Abuse and Trauma

“…There are multiple ways to enhance our understanding of the nexus between elder abuse and traumatic stress in order to advance research, theory, and practice. For example, the experience of elder abuse has only recently begun to be conceptualized as a traumatic stressor (Acierno et al, 2019;Jackson, in press;Ramsey-Klawsnik & Miller, 2017). Relative to other forms of trauma, such as child maltreatment (e.g., Hodgdon et al, 2018), little is known about the elder abuse characteristics that predict psychological, social, physical health, and other outcomes (Maschi, Baer, Morrissey, & Moreno, 2013).…”