This study examined the extent and correlates of elder mistreatment among 400 community dwelling older adults aged 65 and above in Chennai, India. The prevalence rate of mistreatment was 14%. Chronic verbal abuse was the most common followed by financial abuse and the rate of physical abuse and neglect was similar. Among the mistreated, exactly half of them had experienced more than one type of mistreatment (multifaceted-mistreatment). With the exception of financial abuse, a significantly greater number of women experienced verbal and physical abuse as well as neglect compared to men. Adult children, daughters-in-law, spouses, and sons-in-law were the prominent perpetrators. The mistreated older adults were more depressed and less satisfied with life than those who were not mistreated. Logistic regression analysis revealed gender, social support, and subjective rating of physical health as significant factors associated with abuse.

Brief CESD demonstrates adequate reliability and validity. The CESD scores can be used to compare symptoms of depression between male and female older adults.

This qualitative study attempts to understand why older persons abused by their family members in India do not seek help. In-depth interviews over three visits were conducted with six adults aged 65 years and above who had been physically abused by their sons/daughters-in-law. The interviews were transcribed and themes identified using a thematic analysis method. The barriers preventing a person from seeking help were service-related (accessibility, lack of trust); religious (Karma); family (deleterious effects on family, family members' responses to help seeking); and individual (socioeconomic dependency, self-blame). The unique findings that surfaced were fear of losing one's identity by losing one's family, attributing abuse to past sins, and concern over not attaining salvation if one's sons did not perform funeral rites. The authors propose a checklist to explore and assess the barriers to seeking help. Recommendations for geroprofessionals in overcoming barriers include implementing outreach programs and changing the misconceptions regarding Karma.

The characteristics of older adults, family members and family environment are potent predictors of elder mistreatment. Multi-dynamic interventions should target dysfunctional families displaying alcohol use, relationship conflicts, low cohesion and the presence of some form of family violence.

To examine the psychometric properties of the 20-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale (CES-D). Data were collected from 400 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and above, residing in Chennai, India. The instruments including the CES-D scale were translated into Tamil language. The sample was randomly split for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. EFA on a subsample (n = 200) yielded two factors, depressed affect and positive affect. CFA with another subsample (n = 200) indicated a good fit for the two-factor structure. In addition, the two-factor model evinced a superior fit to one-, three- and four-factor models. The internal consistency was high for the total scale and its subscales. The convergent validity of the scale was supported by significant correlations with theoretically related measures. The results indicate acceptable measurement properties of the CES-D scale. However, some items appear to be problematic for Indian older adults. Therefore, there is a need for further studies among Indian older adults.