Table 2.
Bivariate and Multivariate Multinomial Regression Predicting Emotional Abuse Severity
| Characteristic | Bivariate models | Final multivariate model | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score 1/2 | Score 6/7 | Score 12+ | Score 1/2 | Score 6/7 | Score 12+ | |
| OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | |
| Victim physical vulnerability | ||||||
| Functional capacity | 0.98 (0.81–1.18) | 0.99 (0.83–1.19) | 1.03 (0.84–1.26) | 0.90 (0.71–1.14)a | 0.85 (0.68–1.06)a | 0.89 (0.70–1.14)a |
| Poor health | 0.75 (0.41–1.38) | 1.09 (0.64–1.87) | .99 (0.55–1.78) | — | — | — |
| Age | 0.93 (0.90–0.96)*** | 0.90 (0.87–0.93)*** | 0.91 (0.88–0.94)*** | 0.92 (0.89–0.96)*** | 0.89 (0.86–0.92)*** | 0.91 (0.87–0.94)*** |
| Victim–perpetrator relationship dynamics | ||||||
| Victim dependent on perpetrator | 1.57 (0.59–4.17) | 1.18 (0.46–3.03) | 1.47 (0.55–3.89) | — | — | — |
| Spouse/partner | 1.0 (0.54–1.87) | 1.71 (0.98–2.97)† | 2.17 (1.21–3.89)* | 0.46 (0.18–1.19) | 0.72 (0.28–1.86) | 0.89 (0.34–2.29) |
| Adult child | 0.82 (0.43–1.58) | 0.96 (0.54–1.73) | 0.76 (0.40–1.45) | — | — | — |
| Grandchild | —b | —b | —b | — | — | — |
| Paid attendant | —b | —b | —b | — | — | — |
| Home cohabitation | ||||||
| Lives alone with perpetrator | 2.20 (1.02–4.76)* | 3.41 (1.66–6.98)** | 5.03 (2.36–10.70)*** | 2.74 (0.99–7.54)† | 2.97 (1.03–8.54)* | 5.32 (1.87–15.09)** |
| Lives with perpetrator and others | 2.57 (0.90–7.32)† | 4.43 (1.68–11.68)** | 4.16 (1.47–11.76)** | 2.05 (0.53–7.91) | 2.51 (0.55–11.49) | 2.90 (0.68–12.29) |
| Lives only with non-perpetrator others | 0.84 (0.43–1.64) | 0.94 (0.51–1.76) | 0.91 (0.44–1.85) | 0.65 (0.29–1.47) | 0.63 (0.29–1.34) | 0.75 (0.33–1.70) |
| Sociocultural | ||||||
| Female | 1.08 (0.63–1.84) | 0.87 (0.54–1.42) | 1.18 (0.69–2.01) | — | — | — |
| African-American | 0.83 (0.42–1.62) | 0.80 (0.43–1.49) | 1.09 (0.57–2.07) | 0.71 (0.33–1.53) | 0.69 (0.33–1.45) | 1.07 (0.50–2.30) |
| Hispanic | 2.22 (0.56–8.89) | 3.40 (0.95–12.14)† | 1.67 (0.39–7.21) | 1.99 (0.46–8.61) | 3.92 (1.01–15.19)* | 1.75 (0.37–8.28) |
| Race/ethnicity other | 0.95 (0.13–6.93) | 1.36 (0.24–7.61) | 3.5 (0.71–17.36) | 0.94 (0.12–7.39) | 1.54 (0.25–9.63) | 5.03 (0.91–27.92)† |
| Less than high-school | 0.73 (0.30–1.79) | 1.14 (0.51–2.54) | 0.67 (0.27–1.68) | 0.84 (0.30–2.32) | 1.83 (0.70–4.76) | 0.80 (0.28–2.32) |
| High school | 0.39 (0.20 – 0.73)** | 0.80 (0.47–1.37) | 0.49 (0.27–0.91)* | 0.37 (0.18–0.75)** | 0.96 (0.51–1.80) | 0.45 (0.22–0.90)* |
| Household income | 1.06 (0.93–1.20) | 1.15 (1.02–1.29)* | 1.08 (0.95–1.22) | 1.0 (0.85–1.17) | 1.12 (0.96–1.28) | 0.95 (0.81–1.11) |
| Suburban | 1.25 (0.61–2.59) | 0.83 (0.41–1.68) | 0.64 (0.29–1.40) | — | — | — |
| Rural | 0.91 (0.50–1.66) | 0.83 (0.48–1.44) | 0.66 (0.36–1.21) | — | — | — |
| Control | ||||||
| Interviewed by proxy | 0.95 (0.32–2.81) | 0.85 (0.31–2.35) | 0.51 (0.15–1.80) | 0.98 (0.24–3.97) | 0.93 (0.24–3.61) | 0.50 (0.10–2.37) |
Note: Multinomial referent category was score = 0. Independent variable referent groups: health status (good), cohabitation status (lives alone), race/ethnicity (Caucasian), education (more than high-school), and geographical context (urban). Adjusted multinomial regression model satisfied the Likelihood Ratio model fit test (p < .001) [χ2 (39, 509) = 129.76]. Independent variables in the final model had tolerance of 0.74 or above and VIF of 1.34 or below, which suggests no multicollinearity. OR = odds ratio. CI = confidence interval.
aFunctional capacity was included in the final model given its central role to age-associated vulnerability.
bNonconverge due to low number of positive cases on independent variable.
*p ≤ .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, †p < .10 (borderline).