Communication neglect, caregiver anger and hostility, and perceptions of older care receivers’ cognitive status and problem behaviors in explaining elder abuse

ABSTRACT

The goal of the current study was to examine the roles of communication neglect and caregiver traits (i.e., anger and hostility) in explaining caregivers’ tendency to engage in abusive behaviors – specifically, whether such tendency is likely to occur in situations where caregivers perceive older care receivers displaying cognitive impairment or problem behaviors. Two hundred fifty-five informal caregivers completed an online questionnaire via Qualtrics. Treating communication neglect as the mediator, and caregiver anger and hostility as moderators, the results suggested that caregivers who perceived their older care receivers displaying problem behaviors were more likely to engage in communication neglect, which then led to psychological abuse. Moreover, the joint effects of communication neglect and caregiver anger and hostility intensified caregivers’ likelihood to commit psychological abuse. These findings provide initial evidence to further investigate the importance of communication neglect and dysfunctional behaviors such as anger and hostility in explaining psychological abuse in informal caregiving for older adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Elder abuse
• communication neglect
• informal caregiving
• caregiver anger
• caregiver negative emotions
• elder mistreatment