Project: Mental Abuse in Chinese American Older Adults

Department: Perpetuator

Language: English

Start on: Oct 4, 2023

Status: In Progress

Estimated finish by: Mar 1st, 2024

Author: Muzi Wang 

Data Analysis: Mingzhen Zhang

Review: Jenny Gao

Background and Context

The phenomenon of social discrimination against vulnerable groups has a long history. It is well known that children and women are often the main groups of socially vulnerable people who are abused, but with the aging of the population in different degrees worldwide and the wave of silver hair in China, elder abuse is increasingly becoming a hot topic in society. However, elder abuse is not a sporadic and isolated incident, but a growing trend worldwide, and it is becoming a common problem in the field of public health and social security in all countries, which needs to be solved properly.

The World Health Organization and Canadian research institutes have conducted special studies on elder abuse worldwide, and the results show that about one in six older people have experienced different forms and levels of abuse. As of 2017, nearly 141 million older adults in the global population have been abused, with an average of nearly one in ten older adults experiencing various forms of abuse each month. Nearly two-fifths of caregivers in U.S. nursing homes have personally experienced at least one instance of elder abuse, and even 10 percent of caregivers openly admit to having abused at least one older adult, with psychological abuse of older adults reaching 40 percent.[1]

Problem Statement and Hypothesis

Among the different types of physical, mental, physical and social abuse of the older adults, the incidence of mental abuse has clearly exceeded the incidence of other types of abuse, and many scholars' studies have undeniably shown that mental abuse has become the most prevalent and common form of abuse of the older adults. In the face of the difficult situation of the older adults today, along with the aging population and the changing family structure.

According to the results of the study "Incremental changes in loneliness and social support of urban older adults and the factors influencing them", urban older adults showed incremental changes in loneliness and social support; loneliness of older adults was correlated with family income, marital status, health status and social support. Age, gender, family income, health status and social support are the predictors of loneliness among the older adults. [2]Therefore, the content of this study will explore the influence of 11 variables, namely gender, age, education level, marital status, older adults income, physical health status, mental health status, legal cognitive status, relationship with caregivers, number of children born, and degree of support for children, in the mental abuse of older adults.

Research Questions

In the academic field of research, elder abuse should be given high priority by scholars, and it is the most urgent task to deepen academic research in this field, so as to dispel the myths and misconceptions of the society regarding "old-age aversion" and to clarify the understanding of the public to pass on the good virtues of respecting and loving the older adults through academic and theoretical investigation. In Japan, elder abuse is mainly classified into domestic abuse and welfare facility abuse. Domestic abuse refers to abuse committed by family members, relatives, cohabitants, and other caregivers; welfare facility abuse refers to abuse committed by employees of welfare facilities and care services under the older adults Welfare Act and the Nursing Care Insurance Act. [3] As a result, in this work, we performed a survey using questionnaires to understand the current condition of both in-facility and in-home abuse in several nursing homes and communities in Los Angeles, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current situation of mental abuse of the older adults, and to examine the factors influencing mental abuse of the older adults through appropriate model analysis.

Relevance and Importance of the Research

In academia, research on elder abuse first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1975, and by the sixth decade of the 1970s, the literature on elder abuse research began to appear in the United States, where the Cleveland Chronic Disease Research Center in Ohio began to conduct research on the topic of elder abuse.[4]

It is clear from the current focus of society and the research of scholars that the older adults are not given as much attention as the vulnerable groups such as children and women, thus giving some abusers in society the opportunity to take advantage of the physical, mental, health and spiritual damage of the older adults. In addition, the social situation of elder abuse has been known for a long time, but there are different opinions on what factors lead to the abuse of the older adults.

In this paper, we searched the relevant literature through cnki and other databases with key words such as "elder abuse", "mental abuse" and "maltreatment influence factors", and found that the results around elder abuse are less abundant than those of other populations. We found that the results on elder abuse are not as abundant as those on other groups, and the research results on mental abuse of the older adults are even less. Through reading, sorting and analyzing the relevant literature, we found that the research in this field is mainly conducted from the perspectives of sociology, law and medicine, but it is a new perspective to use social security as an entry point to conduct research on mental abuse of the older adults. Therefore, based on the author's own field of expertise, the thesis aims to further enrich the distribution of disciplines and research results in this field, and provide useful experience and theoretical significance for the subsequent research.

In this study, the author will use a questionnaire to understand the current situation of mental abuse of the older adults, and analyze the factors that influence the mental abuse of the older adults through the Logistic model, and propose targeted measures to alleviate or even prevent the mental abuse of the older adults, so as to improve the quality of life of the older adults in their old age, and truly realize the filial piety, respect and love for the older adults. By doing this, we can better the standard of living for the older adults as they age and let modern society genuinely understand the traditional characteristics of filial piety, respect, and love for the older adults.

References

[1]Yon, Y., Mikton, C. R., Gassoumis, Z. D., & Wilber, K. H. (2017). Elder abuse prevalence in community settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet. Global health, 5(2), e147–e156. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30006-2

[2]JIANG Hong, XU Jingjing, WANG Rui, ZHOU Yaru, YI Xiangren, PAN Fang. Age-related changes and influencing factors of loneliness and social support in urban elderly[J].JOURNAL OF SHANDONG UNIVERSITY (HEALTH SCIENCES), 2017, 55(9): 17-22.

[3]Shi Yanrong. (2012). Analysis of the abuse of the elderly in Japan. Social Work (01), 88-90. doi:CNKI:SUN:SHGO.0.2012-01-024. 

[4]Tatara, T. (1998). THE NATIONAL ELDER ABUSE INCIDENCE STUDY, 2–1-2–1. https://doi.org/https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/programs/2016-09/ABuseReport_Full.pdf 

[5] Jiang H, Xu JJ, Wang R, Zhou YR, Yi XY & Pan F. (2017). Incremental changes in loneliness and social support among urban older adults and the factors influencing them. Journal of Shandong University (Medical Edition)(09),17-22.

[6]Claudia Cooper, Amber Selwood, Gill Livingston, The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect: a systematic review, Age and Ageing, Volume 37, Issue 2, March 2008, Pages 151–160, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afm194

[7]Emerson, Richard. (2003). Social Exchange Theory. Annual Review of Sociology. 2. 335-362. 10.1146/annurev.so.02.080176.002003. 

[8]House, J. S., Umberson, D., & Landis, K. R. (1988). Structures and Processes of Social Support. Annual Review of Sociology, 14, 293–318. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083320

[9]Orfila, F., Coma-Solé, M., Cabanas, M., Cegri-Lombardo, F., Moleras-Serra, A., & Pujol-Ribera, E. (2018). Family caregiver mistreatment of the elderly: prevalence of risk and associated factors. BMC public health, 18(1), 167. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5067-8

[10]Feng Ruixin, & Liu Xueqin (2010). Reliability and validity evaluation of the Caregiver Elder Abuse Assessment Scale (Chinese version).