Understanding Factors Influencing Financial Exploitation Among Diverse Samples of Older Adults

越来越多的人认识到，对老年人的经济剥削是一个值得研究人员和政策制定者关注的重大社会问题。随着婴儿潮一代的老龄化，他们拥有大量财富，越来越多地使用互联网和社交媒体，诈骗和欺诈被视为对老年人经济安全的日益威胁。了解影响FE和财务能力(FC)的因素对于识别有认知障碍(如轻度认知障碍(MCI)和阿尔茨海默病(AD))的人也至关重要，因为FC非常容易受到伴随MCI和AD的认知变化的影响。然而，包括认知功能、财务技能/能力和心理社会因素的详细测量在内的前瞻性纵向研究在种族和种族多样性的样本中是缺乏的。本项目的具体目标是(1)研究金融诈骗易感性(暴露和脆弱性)对金融剥削(FE)发生率的影响；(2)研究社会人口因素(例如年龄、教育)和社会融合/隔离对诈骗易感性和FE的影响；(3)考察一般认知能力和金融技能/能力(A)对诈骗易感性和FE的影响；以及(B)作为社会人口因素、社会融合/隔离、诈骗易感性和FE之间关系的中介；(4)考察心理社会因素(信任、冲动和抑郁)对诈骗易感性和FE的影响。我们提出了一个概念模型，该模型描述了通向FE的假设路径。这项研究将使用前瞻性的纵向面板设计，在两年的时间里探索不同社区居住人口的FE。电话筛选方法将用于从两个地点(匹兹堡大学和迈阿密大学)招募720名60岁及以上的白人、非裔美国人和西班牙裔成年人(每组240人)。在每个种族/民族分组中，我们将招募120名年龄在60-79岁之间的人，120名年龄在80岁及以上的人。三个评估(基线，12个月，24个月；最终N~600个；约200个/组，自然减员)将由训练有素的评估员进行，包括综合认知单元、基于网络的银行模拟任务和基于网络的诈骗场景，以及评估各种类型的欺诈和诈骗(FE)、财务技能/建议和支持、社会人口因素、社会融合/隔离和心理社会因素的标准化自我报告措施。在纵向设计中，在年龄最大的老年人和不同种族的大样本中研究多条通往FE的路径；纳入详细的认知功能、财务技能/建议和支持，以及心理社会因素；使用模拟“现实世界”的金融任务和骗局场景；以及使用音频计算机辅助自我访谈(A-CASI)来增强隐私/减少报告FE的潜在障碍，这些都是创新的。了解多条通往FE的途径对于检测老年人可能容易患上更普遍的认知障碍(如AD)非常重要。我们的发现也将有助于指导未来的评估和干预方案。

There is increasing recognition that financial exploitation (FE) of older adults is a significant social problem that deserves the attention of researchers and policy makers. With the aging of the baby boomer cohort who hold significant wealth and are increasingly using the internet and social media, scams and frauds are viewed as a rising threat to the economic security of older adults. Understanding factors that influence FE and financial capacity (FC) is also critically important to the identification of people with cognitive impairments such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as FC is highly vulnerable to the cognitive changes that accompany MCI and AD. However, prospective longitudinal studies of FE including detailed measures of cognitive function, financial skills/capacity, and psychosocial factors in ethnically and racially diverse samples are lacking. The specific aims of this project are (1) to examine the impact of financial scam susceptibility (exposure and vulnerability) on incidence of financial exploitation (FE); (2) to examine the impact of socio-demographic factors (e.g., age, education) and social integration/isolation on scam susceptibility and FE; (3) to examine the impact of general cognitive abilities and financial skills/capacity (a) on scam susceptibility and FE; and (b) as mediators of relationships between socio-demographic factors, social integration/isolation, scam susceptibility and FE; and (4) To examine the impact of psychosocial factors (trust, impulsivity, and depression) on scam susceptibility and FE. We present a conceptual model that describes hypothesized pathways to FE. The study will use a prospective longitudinal panel design to explore FE in diverse community-dwelling populations over a two year period. Telephone screening methods will be used to recruit a sample of 720 White, African-American and Hispanic adults age 60 and older (240 per group) from two sites (U. Pittsburgh; U. Miami). Within each racial/ethnic subgroup, we will recruit 120 age 60-79, and 120 age 80 and older. Three assessments (baseline, 12 mos., 24 mos.; final n~600; ~200/group with attrition) including a comprehensive cognitive battery, web-based banking simulation tasks, and web-based scam scenarios will be conducted by trained assessors, along with a standardized battery of self-report measures assessing experience of various types of frauds and scams (FE), financial skills/advice and support, sociodemographic factors, social integration/isolation, and psychosocial factors. Examination of multiple pathways to FE among the oldest old and in large ethnically diverse samples in a longitudinal design; inclusion of detailed cognitive function, financial skills/advice and support, and psychosocial factors; use of simulations of “real world” financial tasks and scam scenarios; and use of audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (A-CASI) to enhance privacy/reduce potential barriers to reporting FE are innovative. Understanding multiple pathways to FE is important for detecting older adults who may be vulnerable to the onset of more generalized cognitive impairments like AD. Our findings will also help direct future assessment and intervention protocols.