title: Elder Mistreatment Among Chinese American Families: Do Acculturation and Traditionalism Matter?
abstract: This study examined the effect of acculturation and Chinese traditionalism on elder mistreatment (EM) among Chinese American older adults.
  
  
  
  We used a mixed method design in this 2-phase cross-sectional exploratory study conducted in the Phoenix metropolitan area. In Phase I, we conducted four focus groups to develop a culturally relevant EM assessment tool. In Phase II, we administered a survey incorporating this tool to 266 community-dwelling Chinese American older adults aged 60 and older. Acculturation was measured using the Marin acculturation scale. Traditionalism was measured with questions drawn from the Traditionality-Modernity subscale of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI-2).
  
  
  
  The prevalence rates of elder abuse and elder neglect are 8.3% and 5.3%, respectively. Higher levels of acculturation and depression are positively associated with the occurrence of elder abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 1.06). Traditionalism is not significantly related to elder abuse or elder neglect.
  
  
  
  The results suggest that promoting traditional Chinese beliefs may not necessarily prevent EM among members of this population. Rather, EM prevention efforts might focus on building "bi-cultural" identities among both older adults and their adult children. Future research could explore the effect of intergenerational acculturation discrepancies on EM among members of this population.
authors.affiliation: School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Phoenix.|Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hodge
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Acculturation; Elder abuse; Elder neglect; Traditionalism