Understanding Factors Influencing Financial Exploitation Among Diverse Samples of Older Adults

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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.