Older Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: Mixed-Effects Logistic Regression Analysis of Police Records

TL;DR

This study examines domestic violence by older adults in Australia, finding that dementia and alcohol use are linked to increased violence.

Contribution

The study is the first to use mixed-effects logistic regression on police records to analyze domestic violence by older adults.

Findings

Female perpetrators over 65 commit more physical abuse than younger female and male perpetrators.

Dementia and alcohol-related events increase the odds of physical and nonphysical abuse.

Substance use disorders are linked to combined physical and nonphysical abuse in older adults.

Abstract

Domestic violence (DV) among older adults is an understudied area, often overlapping with abuse of older people, intimate partner violence, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

This study aimed to examine the characteristics of older persons of interest—individuals suspected or charged with a DV offence—and survivors involved in police-attended DV events in New South Wales, Australia, and assess associations with physical and nonphysical abuse.

Police records of 10,708 DV events involving 8247 adults aged ≥55 years who were identified as persons of interest from 2005 to 2016 were analyzed using text mining. A 3-level mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to identify predictors of physical and nonphysical abuse.

Physical abuse formed a greater proportion of all abuse committed by female persons of interest aged >65 years compared to female persons of interest aged between 55 and 64 years and male persons of interest; however, after stratified analysis, female persons of interest had similarly elevated odds of physical abuse perpetration to male persons of interest. Other factors associated with increased odds of perpetrating physical abuse were persons of interest with dementia and alcohol-related events. Dementia increased the odds of combined physical and nonphysical abuse. Substance use disorders increased the odds of events with combined physical and nonphysical abuse.

The findings of this study suggest that DV, including physical violence, is an important issue in later life. Alcohol is a situational factor, and dementia is associated with perpetration and exposure to violence. The study highlights the need for clinicians to evaluate the risk of violence and exposure to violence in patients with dementia and for policy interventions targeting alcohol and substance use in older adults.

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