FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH VICTIMS REPORTING ELDER MISTREATMENT TO LEGAL AUTHORITIES: RESULTS FROM THE NEMS

摘要

The vast majority of incidents of elder mistreatment are not reported to the police or other legal authorities. Little research has examined factors associated with reporting mistreatment to legal authorities. Such information is important for understanding who is particularly unlikely to report mistreatment and to indicate possible barriers and facilitators to reporting mistreatment. Using data from the National Elder Mistreatment Study, the current analysis examined victim, perpetrator, and interaction characteristics between cases of elder mistreatment that were vs. were not reported to the police or other legal authorities. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon non-parametric tests were performed. 74 incidents of emotional mistreatment were reported to legal authorities with 806 incidents not reported. 57 incidents of physical mistreatment were reported to legal authorities with 125 cases not reported. Incidents of emotional mistreatment were more likely to be reported when perpetrators had fewer friends and victims had poorer health, were more bothered by emotional problems, and needed help with activities of daily living. Incidents of physical mistreatment were more likely to be reported when perpetrators had fewer friends and victims were older. Notably, reporting incidents of emotional or physical mistreatment were not associated with victims’ receipt of assistance from perpetrators, level of social support, or number of lifetime occurrences of mistreatment. Aging professionals may believe that older persons in good health are more likely to report mistreatment and, as a result, perform less thorough mistreatment assessments with said persons. These findings underscore the importance of conducting mistreatment assessments with all older persons.