Most recently, Laumann et al. appended mistreatment questions to the National Social
Life, Health, and Aging Project, a study of a nationally representative sample of older
Americans.8 The survey asked 3005 individuals aged 57 to 85 years about past-year physical,
verbal, and financial abuse. Two thirds were interviewed in person, and the remainder completed a booklet of questions that was left for participants to read and answer independently (i.e., with no interviewer present). Past-year prevalence was 9.0% for verbal, 0.2% for physical, and 3.5% for financial mistreatment. Respondents toward the younger end of this age range were more likely to experience verbal and financial mistreatment. Women and physically frail elderly persons were more likely to experience verbal mistreatment, African Americans and those in poor health were more likely to report financial exploitation, and Latinos were less likely than respondents from other ethnic groups to report either form of victimization