Interviewer effects when investigating abuse were not compatible with effect modification but instead with confounding

"Older people are weak": perceptions and meanings of ageing and abuse against older people

Introduction

This paper addresses the broader issue of elder abuse and seeks to analyse how victims and non-victims of abuse connect and explain the perception of ageing and the phenomenon of violence against older people.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted based on evidence gathered through 45 semi-structured interviews with people aged 60 or above who are part of the Portuguese EPIPorto population cohort. The interviews were analysed using grounded theory.

Results/discussion

The results show that respondents link the ageist narratives that exist in our societies to the prevalence and naturalisation of violence against older people, that the risk of abuse increases with the weakening of family support networks, and that abuse is both a manifestation of asymmetrical power relations between victims and perpetrators and a severe violation of human rights. The findings also highlight the need to broaden the concept of violence against older people to include offences in the public sphere and not just in the context of the family and institutions.

Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: The Influence of Different Modes of Inquiry

The use of different modes of inquiry about interpersonal violence experiences may result in different frequency estimates. Thus, we measured the frequency and identified the factors associated with cyberbullying among urban school-going adolescents using different tools. Participants were enrolled at the four largest public schools in Porto for seventh- to 12th-grade students and were evaluated during the 2014-2015 academic year. We studied 2,624 adolescents (1,186 males and 1,438 females), 60% of all eligible students. Information under anonymity was collected at the school premises, using a self-administered questionnaire that comprised information on sociodemographic characteristics, school life, emotional well-being, the Internet use monitoring and cyberbullying experiences. Cyberbullying was assessed with two general questions ("Have you ever been a victim of cyberbullying?" and "In the last 12 months, have you been a victim of cyberbullying?) and using the Cyberbullying and Online Aggression Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that covers the last 30 days experience. The lifetime prevalence of cybervictimization was 7.6% and for the last 12 months 3.9%, similar in boys and girls, while the prevalence in the last 30 days was 38.2%, significantly higher in girls (43.1% vs. 33.3%). A statistically significant association of cybervictimization with negative emotional well-being and school bullying victimization experience was identified regardless of timing and the mode of ascertaining cyberbullying. Different measurement instruments resulted in different estimates of the prevalence of cyberbullying. Regardless of the instrument used, a strong association of cyberbullying involvement with negative emotional well-being in adolescents was observed.

Methodological and ethical challenges in violence research

Violence is a relevant public health issue. It is recognized as a sensitive topic to research and introduces challenges not usually found when dealing with other research topics. Researchers face a major challenge that is how to identify and measure violence as it occurs in the general population. This paper intends to discuss and raise awareness to some of the main methodological and ethical challenges related to violence research.