The Social Vulnerability Scale for Older Adults: An Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study

The Shackles of Fear: A Moderated Mediation Model of How Fear of Aging May Increase Older Adults' Vulnerability to Fraud

Objectives: Older adults are disproportionately vulnerable to frauds of many kinds, and fear of aging has been conjectured to be a primary factor in older adults' vulnerability to fraud; however, no study has examined how and when fear of aging is associated with older adults' vulnerability to fraud.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 251 Chinese older adults (M = 68.1, SD = 6.43) completed measures regarding fear of aging, intolerance of uncertainty, self-control, and vulnerability to fraud.Results: The results revealed that intolerance of uncertainty partially mediated the association between fear of aging and vulnerability to fraud. This indirect effect of fear of aging on vulnerability to fraud was only significant for older adults with lower levels of self-control.Conclusions: The association between fear of aging and older adults' vulnerability to fraud through intolerance of uncertainty varies as a function of self-control.Clinical implications: Clinicians may focus on reducing the fear of aging, decreasing intolerance of uncertainty, and enhancing self-control as promising pathways to develop effective interventions and outreach strategies aimed at protecting older adults from fraud.

I Should Have Known Better: Development of a Self-Report Measure of Gullibility

The aim of this research was to explore the predictors of gullibility and to develop a self-report measure of the construct. In Studies 1 to 3, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a large pool of items resulting in a 12-item scale with two factors: Persuadability and Insensitivity to cues of untrustworthiness. Study 4 confirmed the criterion validity of the scale using two distinct samples: scam victims and members of the Skeptics Society. Study 5 demonstrated positive relationships between gullibility and the self-reported persuasiveness of, and likelihood of responding to, unsolicited emails. Throughout the article, analyses of a variety of measures expected to converge with the scale provided evidence for its construct validity. Overall, these studies demonstrate that the construct of gullibility is distinct from trust, negatively related to social intelligence, and that the Gullibility Scale is a reliable and valid measure of gullibility.

Credulity rather than general trust may increase vulnerability to fraud in older adults: a moderated mediation model

The present study aimed to clarify whether it is credulity or general trust that specifically affects vulnerability to fraud, as well as investigating the mediating role of susceptibility to persuasion and the moderating role of greed in this relationship. 254 Chinese older adults completed measures of credulity, general trust, susceptibility to persuasion, greed, and vulnerability to fraud. The results showed that credulity, but not general trust, was positively correlated with vulnerability to fraud, after controlling for demographic covariates. Susceptibility to persuasion partially mediated the effect of credulity on vulnerability to fraud. In addition, this mediating effect of susceptibility to persuasion was only significant in older adults with higher levels of greed. Our findings suggest that credulity, rather than general trust, is a risk factor in vulnerability to fraud among older adults, and may inform the development of supportive interventions to reduce this population's risk of falling victim to fraud.

Perception of Risk for Older Adults: Differences in Evaluations for Self versus Others and across Risk Domains

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Proxy decision-making may be flawed by inaccurate perceptions of risk. This may be particularly true when older adults are the targets of the decisions, given the pervasive negative stereotypes about older adults.

METHODS

In study 1, individuals aged 18- to 87 years (as target persons) as well as one of their close social partners (as informants) reported on the risks they perceived for the target person in various life domains. Study 2 additionally explored potential differences in how people make risky decisions on behalf of younger and older adult targets. Younger (age 18-35 years) and older (age 60-81 years) adults (as target persons of the risk evaluations) as well as informants reported on risk perceptions and the likelihood of risk-taking for health, financial, and social scenarios concerning the target persons. Congruence between self-rated and informant-rated risk perceptions and risk-taking were computed on a dyadic as well as a group level.

RESULTS

Informants' risk perceptions were positively associated with the risks their partners perceived for themselves. Informants and their partners agreed that social risks vary little across adulthood, but they disagreed in terms of recreational, financial, and health risks, and in terms of the decisions they would make.

CONCLUSION

Family members, partners, and close friends are sensitive to vulnerabilities of their social partners, but in some domains and according to their partners' age they perceive a greater (or smaller) risk than their partners perceive for themselves. In situations requiring surrogate decision-making, people may decide differently from how their social partners would decide for themselves.

Predictors of Individual Resilience Characteristics Among Individuals Ages 65 and Older in Post-Disaster Settings

OBJECTIVE

Literature explores which factors most impact resilience and how these factors impact an individual and communities' ability to cope with disaster. Less research has focused on how age impacts resilience. This research adapts several previous conceptual models used to investigate resilience. To investigate the unique vulnerabilities faced by older individuals in post-disaster settings, this analysis was undertaken to investigate predictors of individual resilience.

METHODS

Data for the study were derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Gulf States Population Survey (GSPS). The final sample included 5,713 adult residents from 4 gulf-coast states. Multiple linear regression was used for the analysis.

RESULTS

All models (demographic, health, social, and combined) acted as significant predictors of individual resilience. Health and social resilience models accounted for more of the variance in resilience scores. In all models, age was negatively associated with resilience scores. Being female was protective across all models. The results of the model testing indicate inequitable disaster mitigation, with social and health indicators explaining the most variance in the resilience levels.

CONCLUSION

This research provides practitioners with the knowledge they need to focus their interventions on the areas where it is most needed to empower resilient individuals. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:256-264).

The Children's Social Vulnerability Questionnaire (CSVQ): Validation, relationship with psychosocial functioning, and age-related differences

Background/Objective: Social vulnerability refers to difficulties detecting potentially harmful interpersonal situations. Although it is an important predictor of psychosocial and interpersonal difficulties in clinical samples, research investigating this construct is scarce. We aimed to (a) develop a brief measure for assessing social vulnerability in typically developing children, the Children's Social Vulnerability Questionnaire (CSVQ) (b) examine the relationship between social vulnerability and psychosocial functioning, (c) explore age-related differences, and (d) explore levels of social vulnerability amongst children with clinical needs. Method: Data were gathered on two samples. Participants were parents (n = 790) of elementary school-aged children (3-12 years), and parents and teachers of a second sample (n = 96). Results: Results provide strong reliability and validity evidence. Social vulnerability showed moderate relationships with emotional and behavioural problems, and only a weak relationship with social skills. Parents perceived greater social vulnerability in younger than older children, and amongst children with clinical needs. Parents' and teachers' scores were correlated. Conclusions: Social vulnerability is not simply a lack of social skill; rather, it is a valuable construct for understanding psychosocial risk, especially for young and clinical samples of children.

A GIS Approach to Identifying Socially and Medically Vulnerable Older Adult Populations in South Florida

Purpose of the Study

We define, map, and analyze geodemographic patterns of socially and medically vulnerable older adults within the tri-county region of South Florida.

Design and Methods

We apply principal components analysis (PCA) to a set of previously identified indicators of social and medical vulnerability at the census tract level. We create and map age-stratified vulnerability scores using a geographic information system (GIS), and use spatial analysis techniques to identify patterns and interactions between social and medical vulnerability.

Results

Key factors contributing to social vulnerability in areas with higher numbers of older adults include age, large household size, and Hispanic ethnicity. Medical vulnerability in these same areas is driven by disease burden, access to emergency cardiac services, availability of nursing home and hospice beds, access to home health care, and available mental health services. Age-dependent areas of social vulnerability emerge in Broward County, whereas age-dependent areas of medical vulnerability emerge in Palm Beach County. Older-adult social and medical vulnerability interact differently throughout the study area.

Implications

Spatial analysis of older adult social and medical vulnerability using PCA and GIS can help identify age-dependent pockets of vulnerability that are not easily identifiable in a populationwide analysis; improve our understanding of the dynamic spatial organization of health care, health care needs, access to care, and outcomes; and ultimately serve as a tool for health care planning.

Age and Adaptation: Stronger Decision Updating about Real World Risks in Older Age

In later life, people are faced with a multitude of risky decisions that concern their health, finance, and personal security. Older adults often exercise caution in situations that involve risk. In this research, we asked whether older adults are also more responsive to warnings about potential risk. An answer to this question could reveal a factor underlying increased cautiousness in older age. In Study 1, participants decided whether they would engage in risky activities (e.g., using an ATM machine in the street) in four realistic scenarios about which participants could be expected to have relevant knowledge or experience. They then made posterior decisions after listening to audio extracts of real reports relevant to each activity. In Study 2, we explored the role that emotions play in decision updating. As in Study 1, participants made prior and posterior decisions, with the exception that for each scenario the reports were presented in their original audio format (high emotive) or in a written transcript format (low emotive). Following each posterior decision, participants indicated their emotional valence and arousal responses to the reports. In both studies, older adults engaged in fewer risky activities than younger adults, indicative of increased cautiousness in older age, and exhibited stronger decision updating in response to the reports. Older adults also showed stronger emotional responses to the reports, even though emotional responses did not differ for audio and written transcript formats. Finally, age differences in emotional responses to the reports accounted for age differences in decision updating.