Lifetime Abuse and Mental Health Among Older Persons: A European Study
Open accessAbstract
This study aimed to investigate the association of lifetime abuse and mental health among older persons, considering associated factors (e.g., demographics) through a cross-sectional design. We recruited 4,467 women and men ages 60–84 years from 7 European cities. Mental health was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and physical injuries) based on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and the UK survey of abuse/neglect of older people. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that country of residence, low educational level, and experienced financial strain increased the odds of probable cases of anxiety and depression. Female sex, white-collar profession, and financial support by social/other benefits/or partner income were associated with higher odds of anxiety, while older age and experience of lifetime injury were associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms. The findings of this study indicate that socioeconomic factors, as well as experienced lifetime severe physical abuse leading to injuries, are significant in perceived mental health of adults in later life.
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Thirteen additional studies found a significant association between psychological violence and anxiety.
“Finally, thirteen studies found a significant association between psychological violence and anxiety [13, 38, 40, 49, 59, 63, 65, 68, 78, 80–83], while three studies found an insignificant association [61, 76, 84].”
From The psychological subtype of intimate partner violence and its effect on mental health: a systematic review with meta-analyses (2022) · cites this paper as [59]
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- Authors
- Eslami, B., Macassa, G., Melchiorre, M. G., Barros, H., Viitasara, E., Lindert, J., Stankunas, M., Torres-Gonzalez, F., Ioannidi-Kapolou, E., & Soares, J. J. F.
- Affiliations
- Mid Sweden University (SE)
- Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden
- Istituto Nazionale di Riposo e Cura per Anziani (IT)
- Universidade do Porto (PT)
- Brandeis University (US)
- Department of Health Management, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
- Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Sociology, National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece
- Corresponding author
- Eslami, Bahareh
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-06-19
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 590-607
- ISSN
- 1092-6771 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-083X
- OpenAlex
- W2701074530
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 7
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Journal of Aggression Maltreatment & Trauma (publishedVersion)
- Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (submittedVersion)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (A/2007123)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Elder Abuse and Neglect
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Keywords
- mental health, older adults, anxiety, depression, physical abuse, financial abuse, psychological violence, sexual abuse, personal injury, socioeconomic factors, educational attainment, financial stress, gender differences, country of residence, old age
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