Study of psychometric properties of native and brief Elder Abuse Scale in a group of elders in Alborz province

This study aimed at designing and studying psychometric properties of native elder abuse scale (short form) in a group of elders in Alborz Province. This was a descriptive-correlational study that was conducted within two steps using combined method including qualitative and quantitative steps. At first step, authors employed psychology and psychiatric literature and phenomenology method to conduct a deep interview with psychologists and elders then extracted measures of mistreatment toward elders. At second step, psychometric properties of questionnaire were examined among elders living in Alborz Province using content validity and internal consistency. Statistical population (N=400; 186 men and 215 women) in quantitative step included elders living in Alborz province who were selected using convenient sampling method in 2017. According to the results obtained from first step of explanatory factor analysis, 23 items out of 41 items remained in questionnaire then evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis based of structural equation modeling (SEM) or multivariate analysis with latent variables. Ultimately, 4 factors of verbal abuse (10 items), emotional abuse (6 items), neglect (4 items), and financial abuse (3 items) were selected for short form of elder abuse scale. Calculated Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.84) and retest coefficient (0.96) approved suitable internal consistency of questionnaire. Findings indicated that elder abuse scale-short form (23-item) made it possible to examine different dimensions of abuses measuring the above-mentioned 4 factors and results obtained from validity and reliability indicated optimal function of this instrument to measure mistreatment toward elders in Iranian society.