BACKGROUND: This systematic review synthesizes the quantitative empirical literature concerning older women survivors of physical and sexual assault. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using a range of scholarly databases. Information is presented here on the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of these types of interpersonal violence in older women. Additionally, age-related differences in prevalence, psychiatric distress, and characteristics of violence, including information on perpetrators, are reviewed. RESULTS: Overall, older women report lower lifetime and past year rates of physical and sexual assault and associated negative psychologic consequences compared to younger and middle-aged women. Additionally, older women who experienced interpersonal violence report greater psychiatric distress, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), than older women who have not experienced such events. CONCLUSIONS: Some women who have been physically or sexually assaulted decades earlier in life continue to report significant levels of PTSD well into older adulthood. Gaps in the literature, including lack of information on ethnicity and culture, are presented, and future research directions are proposed.
BACKGROUND: This systematic review synthesizes the quantitative empirical literature concerning older women survivors of physical and sexual assault. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using a range of scholarly databases. Information is presented here on the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of these types of interpersonal violence in older women. Additionally, age-related differences in prevalence, psychiatric distress, and characteristics of violence, including information on perpetrators, are reviewed. RESULTS: Overall, older women report lower lifetime and past year rates of physical and sexual assault and associated negative psychologic consequences compared to younger and middle-aged women. Additionally, older women who experienced interpersonal violence report greater psychiatric distress, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), than older women who have not experienced such events. CONCLUSIONS: Some women who have been physically or sexually assaulted decades earlier in life continue to report significant levels of PTSD well into older adulthood. Gaps in the literature, including lack of information on ethnicity and culture, are presented, and future research directions are proposed.
Authors: Amy E Bonomi; Melissa L Anderson; Robert J Reid; David Carrell; Paul A Fishman; Frederick P Rivara; Robert S Thompson Journal: Gerontologist Date: 2007-02
Authors: Robert S Thompson; Amy E Bonomi; Melissa Anderson; Robert J Reid; Jane A Dimer; David Carrell; Frederick P Rivara Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2006-06 Impact factor: 5.043
Authors: Charles P Mouton; Rebecca J Rodabough; Susan L D Rovi; Julie L Hunt; Melissa A Talamantes; Robert G Brzyski; Sandra K Burge Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2004-04 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: Cynthia R Pearson; Debra Kaysen; Annie Belcourt; Cynthia A Stappenbeck; Chuan Zhou; Lucy Smartlowit-Briggs; Patricia Whitefoot Journal: Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res Date: 2015
Authors: Laura Sampson; Shaili C Jha; Andrea L Roberts; Rebecca B Lawn; Kristen M Nishimi; Andrew Ratanatharathorn; Jennifer A Sumner; Jae H Kang; Laura D Kubzansky; Eric B Rimm; Karestan C Koenen Journal: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2021-11-12 Impact factor: 4.105
Authors: Carolyn J Gibson; Alison J Huang; Brigid McCaw; Leslee L Subak; David H Thom; Stephen K Van Den Eeden Journal: JAMA Intern Med Date: 2019-01-01 Impact factor: 21.873
Authors: Sandra M Parra-Barrera; Nieves Moyano; Miguel Ángel Boldova; María Del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-04-15 Impact factor: 3.390