Elder mistreatment predicts later physical and psychological health: Results from a national longitudinal study

Sep 17, 2016Journal of elder abuse & neglect

Elder abuse predicts later physical and mental health problems in a national long-term study

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Abstract

Elder mistreatment is associated with increased anxiety, loneliness, and worse health five years later among 2,261 older adults.

Older adults who experienced verbal and financial mistreatment reported more anxiety symptoms five years later.
Feelings of loneliness were greater in those who experienced mistreatment compared to those who did not.
Physical and functional health declined in mistreated individuals over the five-year period.
A novel association was found between financial mistreatment and deterioration in functional health.
Social support did not appear to mitigate the negative health effects of mistreatment.

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Stress process theory predicts that elder mistreatment leads to declines in health, and that social support buffers its ill effects. We test this theory using nationally representative, longitudinal data from 2,261 older adults in the National Social Life Health and Aging Project. We regress psychological and physical health in 2010/2011 on verbal and financial mistreatment experience in 2005/2006 and find that the mistreated have more anxiety symptoms, greater feelings of loneliness, and worse physical and functional health 5 years later than those who did not report mistreatment. In particular, we show a novel association between financial mistreatment and functional health. Contrary to the stress buffering hypothesis, we find little evidence that social support moderates the relationship between mistreatment and health. Our findings point to the lasting impact of mistreatment on health but show little evidence of a buffering role of social support in this process.

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