For Better or for Worse:

Abstract Although there is a strong negative relationship between age and spousal violence of both sexes, spouse abuse is one of the more common forms of elder abuse. Causal theories and perspectives on domestic violence provide the framework for an analysis of older married participants in the National Family Violence Resurvey. Cross tabulations were used to compare violent and non-violent couples in both age groups. Results suggest that many of the risk factors present in abusive couple relationships are the same regardless of age. Logit analysis employed to estimate the effects of various risk factors on couple violence in the elderly produced a final model including: verbal aggression, marital conflict, and perceived stress.