Development of short-form measures to assess four types of elder mistreatment: Findings from an evidence-based study of APS elder abuse substantiation decisions. Issue 4 (8th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beach, Scott R.; Liu, Pi-Ju; DeLiema, Marguerite; Iris, Madelyn; Howe, Melissa J.K.; Conrad, Kendon J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of elder abuse & neglect. Volume 29:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 229
• Page End: 253
• Publication Date: 2017-08-08
• Subjects: Adult protective services -- Elder Abuse Decision Support System -- elder abuse investigation/substantiation -- Older Adult Mistreatment Assessment -- receiver operating curve; Elder Abuse -- Periodicals; Older people -- Abuse of -- United States -- Periodicals; Social work with older people -- United States -- Periodicals; 362.682
• DOI: 10.1080/08946566.2017.1338171
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-6566

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Improving the standardization and efficiency of adult protective services (APS) investigations is a top priority in APS practice. Using data from the Elder Abuse Decision Support System (EADSS), we developed short-form measures of four types of elder abuse: financial, emotional/psychological, physical, and neglect. The EADSS data set contains 948 elder abuse cases (age 60+) with yes/no abuse substantiation decisions for each abuse type following a 30-day investigation. Item sensitivity/specificity analyses were conducted on long-form items with the substantiation decision for each abuse type as the criterion. Validity was further tested using receiver–operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, correlation with long forms and internal consistency. The four resulting short-form measures, containing 36 of the 82 original items, have validity similar to the original long forms. These short forms can be used to standardize and increase efficiency of APS investigations, and may also offer researchers new options for brief elder abuse assessments.