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

• NCJ Number: 251657
• Author(s): Ron Acierno, Jordan Watkins, Melba A. Hernandez-Tejada, Wendy Muzzy, Gabrielle Frook, Mara Steedley, Georgia Anetzberger
• Date Published: May 2018
• Length: 4 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: National Elder Mistreatment Study: 5 Year Followup of Victims and Matched Non-Victims

Annotation

Since the potential relevance of financial abuse to the victim’s mental health and perceived health is relatively unknown, the objective of the reported study was to document this relationship.

Abstract

The second wave of the National Elder Mistreatment Study used a random digit dialing telephone survey to assess both recent financial mistreatment and its potential mental health correlates (i.e., diagnoses of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], generalized anxiety disorder [GAD], and self-ratings of physical health) in 774 older adults. The study indicated that past-year Wave II financial mistreatment was associated with significantly increased likelihood of depression, PTSD, GAD, and poor self-rated health; and financial mistreatment perpetrated by family members was associated with particularly increased risk of depression. These findings indicate that assessment of mental health is relevant and important in cases of financial abuse of an elderly person. (Publisher abstract modified)