Folorunsho Sunkanmi, Okyere Michael
Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2025 Apr;29(4):567-577. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2436468. Epub 2024 Dec 10.
This systematic review aimed to examine the impact of elder abuse, specifically neglect, physical and financial abuse on mental health outcomes among older adults in the United States. It also sought to identify intervention strategies and highlight gaps in the existing literature. A comprehensive search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest, and Google Scholar for articles published from 1990 onwards. After applying predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 studies were selected from an initial pool of 251 articles. Data extraction focused on abuse types, prevalence rates, mental health outcomes, and methodological approaches. Studies were categorized based on abuse type and associated mental health outcomes. This review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42024561162). Physical abuse was consistently associated with increased risks of depression and anxiety, with cultural factors influencing reporting rates. Financial abuse often led to emotional distress, social isolation, and compounded mental health challenges. Neglect was closely tied to loneliness and deteriorating well-being. Methodological limitations, including reliance on cross-sectional designs and self-reported data, were prevalent among the reviewed studies. These limitations underscore the need for longitudinal research to establish causality. Elder abuse significantly impacts mental health, particularly through physical, financial, and neglectful abuse. Effective prevention strategies should include caregiver support, financial education, multidisciplinary approaches, and tailored interventions. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies to explore causal relationships and quantify the broader social and economic impacts of elder abuse. Addressing these gaps is critical to improving prevention, support systems, and policy frameworks aimed at safeguarding older adults' mental health and well-being.
本系统综述旨在研究虐待老年人，特别是忽视、身体虐待和经济虐待对美国老年人心理健康结果的影响。它还试图确定干预策略，并突出现有文献中的差距。使用PubMed、PsycINFO、ProQuest和谷歌学术对1990年以来发表的文章进行了全面检索。在应用预定义的纳入和排除标准后，从最初的251篇文章中筛选出23项研究。数据提取集中在虐待类型、患病率、心理健康结果和方法学方法上。研究根据虐待类型和相关的心理健康结果进行分类。本综述已在PROSPERO注册（标识符：CRD42024561162）。身体虐待一直与抑郁和焦虑风险增加相关，文化因素影响报告率。经济虐待往往导致情绪困扰、社会孤立和心理健康挑战加剧。忽视与孤独和幸福感下降密切相关。方法学上的局限性，包括依赖横断面设计和自我报告数据，在所审查的研究中普遍存在。这些局限性强调了进行纵向研究以确定因果关系的必要性。虐待老年人对心理健康有重大影响，特别是通过身体、经济和忽视性虐待。有效的预防策略应包括照顾者支持、金融教育、多学科方法和量身定制的干预措施。未来的研究应优先进行纵向研究，以探索因果关系，并量化虐待老年人的更广泛的社会和经济影响。弥补这些差距对于改善旨在保护老年人心理健康和福祉的预防、支持系统和政策框架至关重要。
