Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal.
Health Soc Care Community. 2019 May;27(3):609-620. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12673. Epub 2018 Oct 18.
Elder abuse has been gaining public, state, and scientific attention for the past 40 years, but research focusing on emotional reactions of older adults to victimisation is still scarce. The study describes the emotions and feelings of older adults who experienced abuse in a community setting, and the association between these emotions and individual or abuse characteristics. The cross-sectional study comprises 510 older adults who were identified and referred by four institutions. Participants answered a questionnaire on elder abuse experiences, including the emotion or feeling brought out by the act of abuse that was perceived to be the most serious. Fear and sadness comprised 67.1% of all provided responses. Emotional reactions were associated with functional status, the presence of depressive symptoms, relationship with the perpetrator and, to a limited degree, to the experience of multiple types of abuse. The most significant and meaningful variable was the relationship with the perpetrator. This study demonstrates that older adults present very similar patterns of emotional reactions, but individual characteristics and the established relationship with the perpetrator might mediate the emotional response. Implications for prevention and intervention of elder abuse are discussed.
虐待老人问题在过去 40 年中受到了公众、各州政府和科学界的关注，但针对老年人对受害的情绪反应的研究仍然很少。本研究描述了在社区环境中遭受虐待的老年人的情绪和感受，以及这些情绪与个体或虐待特征之间的关联。这项横断面研究包括由四个机构确定和转介的 510 名老年人。参与者回答了一份关于虐待老人经历的问卷，包括他们认为最严重的虐待行为所带来的情绪或感受。恐惧和悲伤占所有回答的 67.1%。情绪反应与功能状态、抑郁症状的存在、与施虐者的关系有关，在一定程度上与遭受多种类型虐待的经历有关。最重要和最有意义的变量是与施虐者的关系。本研究表明，老年人表现出非常相似的情绪反应模式，但个体特征和与施虐者的既定关系可能会影响情绪反应。讨论了预防和干预虐待老人问题的意义。
