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Updated: May 17, 2026

Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
Social-relational risk factors for predicting elder physical abuse: an ecological bi-focal model
Levente von Heydrich1, Lawrence B Schiamberg, Grace Chee
1Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1030, USA.
Abstract:
Annually in the United States, 1 to 5 million older adults, 65 and above, are physically or sexually injured or mistreated by their caregivers in family settings. This study examined the prevalence and risk factors involved in elder physical abuse by adult child caregivers, moving from the immediate elderly parent/adult child relationship context to more distal social support contexts, utilizing a subsample of 203 elderly participants from the Midlife Development in the United States study (MIDUS II, 2004-2006). LISREL modeling examined causal pathways between elderly demographic characteristics, physical/emotional health, and behavioral and contextual characteristics from an ecological perspective. Data modeling was accomplished using Mplus, PAXW, and SYSTAT statistical software packages. Results indicate that latent factors including older adult health, social isolation of the older adult, and adult child characteristics were significantly associated with elder physical abuse, as mediated by the quality of the elderly parent/adult child relationship.
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