title: Risk factors of severity of abuse against older women in the home setting: A multinational European study.
abstract: This article examines the ecological risk factors of abuse against older women. Data from 2,880 older women were randomly collected in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Portugal) using a standardized questionnaire. Results indicate that overall 30.1 % older women had at least one experience of abuse in the past year. The findings demonstrate that a single emphasis on personal risk factors (e.g., health, coping) is important but too simple: Abuse is multifaceted and is embedded in environmental (e.g., loneliness, household income) as well as macrocultural contexts (e.g., old age dependency ratio).
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , Vrije Universiteit Brussel , Brussels , Belgium.
authors.forename: Liesbeth De
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Donder
authors.affiliation: b Research Institute of the Red Cross, Vienna, Austria; Austrian Health Promotion Foundation, a business unit of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH , Vienna , Austria.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: c School of Psychology , University of Minho , Braga , Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira-Alves
authors.affiliation: d School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health , University of East Anglia , Norwich , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Bridget
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Penhale
authors.affiliation: e Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Public Administration Department , Vytautas Magnus University , Kaunas , Lithuania.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tamutiene
authors.affiliation: f Functional Capacity Unit , National Institute for Health and Welfare , Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Minna-Liisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Luoma
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria; D001530:Belgium; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006304:Health Status; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania; D008875:Middle Aged; D011174:Portugal; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Ecological model; elder abuse; mistreatment; risk factors