Environmental Factors and Aged Abuse in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the environmental factors and aged abuse in 
Ibadan. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and the 1978 
WHO ‘30 by 7’ cluster sampling technique in selecting 1,244 aged 
persons from six local government areas in Ibadan. Environmental 
Factors Questionnaire with three sub-scales [culture (r=0.81); 
westernisation (r=0.79) and social support policy (r=0.75)], and Aged 
Abuse (r=0.83) scales were used for the data collection. These were 
complemented with Life-story and In-depth interview sessions with the 
aged. Multiple regression was used at 0.05 level of significance while 
qualitative data were content analysed. Environmental factors jointly 
predict aged abuse among the Yoruba people (F16, 1243=1285.59; R= 
0.97), accounting for 94.3% of its variance. Cultural beliefs (?=0.24), 
Westernisation (?=-.16), and social support policy (?=-.10) factors 
had relative contributions to aged abuse. Succinctly, eroded culture, 
weak social support system, exposure to western culture contributed to 
aged abuses in Ibadan. There is the need for value orientation, strong 
social support and prosecution of Aged abusers.