Elder Abuse and Neglect: Examining Caregiver Characteristics and Perceptions of their Elderly Care Receiver’s Under-Accommodative Behavior

ABSTRACT

Based on the literature on family violence, intergenerational communication, and elder abuse, and the communication accommodation theory, this study tested a revised model of communication-based model of elder abuse and neglect. Treating perceptions of elderly care receiver’s under-accommodative behaviors (i.e., communication problems, painful self-disclosure, and patronizing talk) as moderators, relationships between family caregiver’s characteristics and forms of elder abuse/neglect were examined. Adult family caregivers (N = 220) were surveyed. The results suggested partial support of the proposed model. Caregivers’ perceptions of their elderly care receivers’ under-accommodation significantly moderated the relationships between different caregiver characteristics and all three forms of abuse. Discussion focused on the theoretical contribution of the findings, and the potential influence of the three under-accommodative behaviors in the family caregiving context.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge Dr. Yan Bing Zhang for her suggestions on statistical analysis of this study, and also thank the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mei-Chen Lin

Mei-Chen Lin (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is Associate Professor in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University. Her research interests include intergroup communication and identity management, communication, aging, and elder abuse, and political identity and media use.