Karen A Roberto
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 204682 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Karen A Roberto |
| NOMBRES | Karen A |
| APELLIDO | Roberto |
| FIRMA | ROBERTO K A |
| AFILIACIONES | Virginia Tech |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1153-1811 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 52 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 79 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 52 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1986 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
Gender differences in spousal caregiver strain and paid service use among dementia caregivers in rural Appalachia
Spousal caregivers of persons living with dementia (PLwD) often experience high overload and loneliness due to the intensive and ongoing nature of caregiving for their partner. Paid in-home services, such as assistance with daily household tasks, respite care, or personal care, might help ease caregivers' physical strain; however, it is unclear if these in-home services effectively address loneliness and overload and whether their benefits differ…
Global Approaches to Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Elder Abuse Prevention
Public health professionals use a three-pronged approach to address broad-reaching issues of societal concern: primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention. Applying this framework to the study of elder abuse, the purpose of this review is to describe the status of elder abuse prevention research on a global scale. Elder abuse prevention articles published between 2015 and 2021 were identified through electronic bibliographic…
Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on stress, coping, and well-being among adults with histories of child maltreatment
40). Approximately half of participants reported that the pandemic had greatly (negatively) impacted their life, relationships, and well-being. Contributing stressors included being fearful of getting sick, navigating work changes, and experiencing economic and housing hardships, grief and loss, and social isolation. Fewer than half of the sample reported more stress (46%), whereas a third (33%) indicated no changes to stress, and 10% had reduced…
Families With Early History of Parental Abuse and Neglect
For families with an early history of parental abuse and neglect (EHPAN), personal and situational stressors can increase relational vulnerabilities. We examined relationship dynamics between midlife adults with EHPAN and their parents during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 31 participants (aged 44-50), examined patterns of contact and support to provide insights into relationship d…
Elder abuse and the opioid epidemic
Experiences of black women adult foster care providers for aging adults
This study explored experiences of 23 Black women owners and operators of Adult Foster Care (AFC) homes for midlife and older adults. Semi-structured interview data focusing on multiple dimensions of the care context were analyzed using grounded theory methods. Women leveraged their resources as they invested their expertise, time, and relationships to support their residents and embraced the value of residents for their contribution to the succe…
Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Elder Mistreatment
This article reports the results of a scoping review of the literature on life-course patterns of violence that span the developmental periods of childhood, adolescence, and early and middle adulthood. We also assess the evidence on elder mistreatment and its relation to earlier forms of violence. Additionally, we draw on theories and empirical studies to help explain the transmission of violence over time and relational contexts and the factors …
Location Matters
Moving beyond typical dichotomous rural–urban categorizations, this study examines older adults’ likelihood of receiving home- and community-based services. Data from 1608 individuals aged 60+ who requested assistance from Area Agencies on Aging in Virginia in 2014–2015 were analyzed; 88% of individuals received at least one service. Receiving services was associated with geographic-based factors. Individuals living in completely rural areas were…
Dementia Family Caregiving in Rural Appalachia
Findings revealed subtle variation across caregivers in this study and in comparison, to caregivers' experiences more generally. We interpret these variations in light of culturally influenced attitudes, family norms, and sources of information about formal services. Place-based cultural experience influenced dementia family caregivers' behaviors and choices regarding formal service use, suggesting that investigators should pay more attention to …
Nature as nurture
Rural older women are surrounded by nature, a dynamic context for human development. Informed by place attachment and attention restoration theory, and guided by a life course perspective, this qualitative study focused on the perceived influence of nature in the lives of 34 rural older women. Using grounded theory techniques to analyze in-depth interviews, two primary findings emerged: (a) nature was integral to the women's identity; and (b) int…
Dementia Caregiving During the “Stay-at-Home” Phase of Covid-19 Pandemic
Use of the transactional model of stress responses yielded important insights about families coping with dementia. Caregivers' perceptions of the pandemic's impact varied, with differential effects on their well-being
Community Resources for Older Adults
Community Resources for Older Adults provides comprehensive, up-to-date information on programs, services, and policies pertaining to older adults. Authors Robbyn R. Wacker and Karen A. Roberto build reader awareness of programs and discuss how to better understand help-seeking behavior, as well as explain ways to take advantage of the resources available to older adults. The substantially revised Fifth Edition includes new topics and updated res…
Agency and fatalism in older Appalachian women’s information seeking about gynecological cancer
Researchers consider older women in rural Appalachia to have low levels of agency and high levels of fatalism regarding decision making about cancer treatment. Using the life course perspective, we examined older women's agency with information seeking about gynecological cancer. Semistructured interviews with 20 White women living in central Appalachia revealed four trajectories: Surrendering Control, Accepting Death, Self-Care, and Advocacy, ea…
Mastery and Longevity in Spousal Caregivers of Persons with Dementia
Findings have implications for support programs that help build personal mastery
Where You Age Matters
Developing effective service promotion tactics, destigmatizing community services, and targeting services and support, especially to women, could decrease health disparities in rural Appalachia and similar geographic areas
Community Resources for Older Adults
The complexities of elder abuse
Elder abuse is a growing societal concern, affecting at least 1 in 10 older Americans. Researchers and practitioners alike consistently assert that a dramatic discrepancy exists between the prevalence rates of elder abuse and the number of elder abuse cases reported. As a field of study, recognition and understanding of elder abuse is still emerging. Comparing findings of a small, but growing, body of literature on perceived and substantiated cas…
Intimate Partner Violence in Late Life
This integrated review of the empirical literature synthesizes a decade of scientific research across scholarly and professional publications addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) in late life. Deriving insights through a qualitative coding scheme and detailed analysis of 57 empirical sources, we discuss the theoretical frameworks, conceptual themes, and methodological approaches that cut across the literature. Based on these findings, we id…
Relational Systems
Close relationships are important throughout life, but their dynamics may change as chronic health conditions permeate the lives of older women. To understand how older women ( N = 36) manage their close relationships, this study was guided by two research questions: How do older women with chronic health conditions define meaningful relationships? How do older women negotiate intimacy loss and challenges that accompany changes in their health an…
Effects of Daily Stressors on the Psychological and Biological Well-being of Spouses of Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment
The findings document the negative physiological effects of having a spouse with MCI and provide new details on probable causes of psychological and biological distress. They shed light on MCI-specific interventions to address couples' needs before severe disease progression occurs that could interfere with spouses' ability to provide home-based care and support
Family Triad Perceptions of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Pursuing family-level data on responses to MCI uncovered more nuanced reactions, often differing across triad members, than individual-based research has found. Family perceptions about changes in elders' memory have important implications for within-family interactions and support that can help families cope successfully with MCI
Displaced Older Adults' Reactions to and Coping With the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Guided by an ecological perspective, the authors examined event, individual, structural/cultural, and family/community factors that shaped the psychological well-being of older adults displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The authors first established the negative effects of displacement on psychological well-being by comparing displaced older adults with permanent Baton Rouge residents. Displaced older persons' psychological well-bein…
Perspectives on Extended Family and Fictive Kin in the Later Years
To identify perspectives on the roles of extended family and fictive kin, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 45 older adults diverse in gender, race, and class. Five strategies of kin reinterpretation were found. Kin promotion defined a distant blood relative as a closer blood relative. Kin exchange reclassified a parent-child tie as a sibling tie or vice versa. Nonkin conversion created fictive kin by turnin…
Challenges to Older Women's Sense of Self in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
We examined the personal challenges older women faced as they began to rebuild their sense of self after Hurricane Katrina. In-depth interviews with 74 older women approximately 6 months after the disaster revealed challenges in four domains: maintaining social connections, family connections but loss of independence, reestablishing a sense of place, and managing their own health or the health of a loved one. Follow-up data gathered several month…
Everyday health and identity management among older women with chronic health conditions
Perspectives on Extended Family and Fictive Kin in the Later Years
To identify perspectives on the roles of extended family and fictive kin, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 45 older adults diverse in gender, race, and class. Five strategies of kin reinterpretation were found. Kin promotion defined a distant blood relative as a closer blood relative. Kin exchange reclassified a parent-child tie as a sibling tie or vice versa. Nonkin conversion created fictive kin by turnin…
Grandfathers' Perceptions and Expectations of Relationships With Their Adult Grandchildren
Combining life course, feminist, and social-constructivist approaches with an inductive qualitative methodology, the authors explored the relationships of older men with their grandchildren. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 men, ranging in age from 59 to 82, who were part of a larger sample of 45 older adult grandparents. From their analyses of the men's perceptions of their family relationships, three main themes emerged: Geographic pr…
The complexities of elder abuse
Elder abuse is a growing societal concern, affecting at least 1 in 10 older Americans. Researchers and practitioners alike consistently assert that a dramatic discrepancy exists between the prevalence rates of elder abuse and the number of elder abuse cases reported. As a field of study, recognition and understanding of elder abuse is still emerging. Comparing findings of a small, but growing, body of literature on perceived and substantiated cas…
Dementia Family Caregiving in Rural Appalachia
Findings revealed subtle variation across caregivers in this study and in comparison, to caregivers' experiences more generally. We interpret these variations in light of culturally influenced attitudes, family norms, and sources of information about formal services. Place-based cultural experience influenced dementia family caregivers' behaviors and choices regarding formal service use, suggesting that investigators should pay more attention to …
Dementia Caregiving During the “Stay-at-Home” Phase of Covid-19 Pandemic
Use of the transactional model of stress responses yielded important insights about families coping with dementia. Caregivers' perceptions of the pandemic's impact varied, with differential effects on their well-being
Everyday health and identity management among older women with chronic health conditions
Family Triad Perceptions of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Pursuing family-level data on responses to MCI uncovered more nuanced reactions, often differing across triad members, than individual-based research has found. Family perceptions about changes in elders' memory have important implications for within-family interactions and support that can help families cope successfully with MCI
Sexual Abuse of Vulnerable Young and Old Women
Aggregated data from 125 substantiated Adult Protective Services cases of sexually abused women were collected during a 5-year period. Women older than 59 years represented 63% of the cases. Regardless of age, the most common types of abuse involved sexualized kissing and fondling and unwelcome sexual interest in the women's body. Most identified perpetrators were older males. Family members were most likely to abuse women living in the community…
Relational Systems
Close relationships are important throughout life, but their dynamics may change as chronic health conditions permeate the lives of older women. To understand how older women ( N = 36) manage their close relationships, this study was guided by two research questions: How do older women with chronic health conditions define meaningful relationships? How do older women negotiate intimacy loss and challenges that accompany changes in their health an…
Displaced Older Adults' Reactions to and Coping With the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Guided by an ecological perspective, the authors examined event, individual, structural/cultural, and family/community factors that shaped the psychological well-being of older adults displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The authors first established the negative effects of displacement on psychological well-being by comparing displaced older adults with permanent Baton Rouge residents. Displaced older persons' psychological well-bein…
From sexism to sexy
Confronting Widowhood
Mastery and Longevity in Spousal Caregivers of Persons with Dementia
Findings have implications for support programs that help build personal mastery
Where You Age Matters
Developing effective service promotion tactics, destigmatizing community services, and targeting services and support, especially to women, could decrease health disparities in rural Appalachia and similar geographic areas
Effects of Daily Stressors on the Psychological and Biological Well-being of Spouses of Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment
The findings document the negative physiological effects of having a spouse with MCI and provide new details on probable causes of psychological and biological distress. They shed light on MCI-specific interventions to address couples' needs before severe disease progression occurs that could interfere with spouses' ability to provide home-based care and support
Confronting Widowhood
Adjusting to Chronic Disease
The physical, psychological, and social components of the lives of 115 older women were examined in order to gain a better understanding of the impact of living with osteoporosis. Adjustments made in the women's lives included the use of supportive devices, changes in sleep and rest patterns, not being able to carry out household tasks, less involvement in social activities, and a greater reliance on family member for assistance. Results are disc…
Self-Perceptions of Older Women with Osteoporosis
The influence of living with osteoporosis on the selfperceptions of older women was examined. One hundred six osteoporotic women, 60 years of age and older, were interviewed. Higher self-concept scores were associated with having fewer illnesses, better mobility, ability to perform tasks of daily living more independently, ability to do housework, and being able to go out and socialize. Similarly, having fewer illnesses, better mobility, using fe…
Grandchildren and Grandparents
This study explored the significance of grandparents in the lives of young adult grandchildren. A convenience sample of 142 college students completed a questionnaire that examined four areas: frequency of activities, value development, relationship solidarity, and role conception. While current interactions with grandparents were infrequent, grandchildren did perceive their grandparents, and grandmothers in particular, as influential in their va…
Elderly Women with Hip Fractures
This study examined the functional and psychosocial characteristics of 100 community-dwelling older women recovering from hip fractures. The greater number of pre-fracture health conditions reported by the women, the lower they rated their post-fracture ADL recovery. The more stress, depression, and help received from informal network members, the poorer the women s perceived recovery. The greater their feelings of attachment to their informal ne…
Factors related to older women's recovery from hip fractures
Our purpose in conducting this study was to identify the nature of care provided by the informal support network available to older women with hip fractures and to examine the relationships among prior functional ability, locus of control, and reliance on social supports in predicting recovery from hip fractures. One hundred one women who had recently sustained a hip fracture participated in a structured interview process. Overall, the women rece…
Chronic Pain and Older Women
Drawing upon the available research literature, this article highlights the research and practice issues that must be addressed if we are to be responsive to the chronic health problems, and subsequent pain, that often codront individuals as they age. This list should by no means be 'seen as exhaustive, but rather as a starting point from which to further our understanding of chronic pain in the lives of older women
Osteoporosis and Older Women
Osteoporosis, a metabolic bone disorder, affects four times as many women as men. Each year 1.3 million fractures, primarily of the vertebra, hip, and wrist can be attributed to osteoporosis. Risk factors for the development of this disease include age, sex, body build, family history, race, loss of estrogen, calcium deficiency, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and the excessive use of alcohol. Three common approaches used in the treatment and preve…
The Study of Chronic Pain in Later Life
Chronic pain often accompanies the predominant nonfatal chronic conditions experienced by older women. Population estimates suggest that 25-50% of community-dwelling older adults suffer as a result of chronic pain problems. Despite the prevalence of chronic pain among older adults, very little attention has been given to the consequences associated with living with chronic pain in later life. Within the limited geriatric pain literature, virtuall…
Reactions of Older Women to the Death of Their Close Friends
In this study we examined the reactions of thirty-eight older women to the death of their close friends. The sense of loss that the women felt when their close friends died resulted in the development of new and closer relationships with other friends and relatives. The women's primary advice to others who had lost a close friend was to remember their friend, seek out new friendships, and be active. Differences in the women's responses were obser…
Friendships Between Older Women
The purpose of this study was to examine specific interactions between older women and multiple members of their close friend network. Ninety-four women, 65 years of age and older, described their interactions with 182 close friends. The women reported substantial social and emotional involvement with their close friends. Almost all of the women reported getting together with their close friends "just to talk." For women with multiple close frien…
Retirement Decision-Making
The purpose of this paper is to compare the issues that influence the retirement decision-making process of mid-life and older men and women, including both psychosocial and personal concerns. We discuss economic, attitudinal and health aspects of aging, in light of retirement issues, and present strategies for change. Recommendations for continued policy research encompass new program designs for retirement planning modules and a greater focus o…
Influence of a Values Discussion on Congruence Between Elderly Women and Their Families on Critical Health Care Decisions
This study investigated if prior discussion of values by competent older women (N = 60) with their proxies assisted these proxies to make critical health care decisions in congruence with the desires of the women. Women were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. Experimental treatment consisted of discussion of value indicators in the presence of their proxies. The proxies were instructed to make decisions in 10 situations across 3…
Spousal Support of Older Women with Osteoporotic Pain
Thirty-four couples were interviewed to assess the congruity of husbands' and wives' perceptions of the wives' osteoporotic pain and the exchange of instrumental support within the marital relationship. Moderate correlations were found between the husbands' and wives' ratings of two specific dimensions of the wives' pain experience: interference with daily life and pain severity. Wives who perceived their pain as more severe but as having a lesse…
Older Women, Their Children, and Grandchildren
Using gerontological and feminist frameworks, we explored the relationships older women have with their children and grandchildren. In-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 women, ranging in age from 55 to 88. From our analyses of the women's perceptions of their family relationships, two themes were prevalent: the centrality of children and the peripherality of grandchildren in their everyday lives. The women had varying degrees o…
Families in the Middle and Later Years
Research on families in the middle and later years came into its own during the 1990s, documenting the complexity, malleability, and variety of older family connections. We examined 908 articles on family gerontology topics, observing 4 trends: Conceptually, an appreciation for pluralism and resilience as individuals and families age is apparent. Theoretically, life course, feminist, socioemotional selectivity, and family solidarity theories are …
The Meaning of Osteoporosis in the Lives of Rural Older Women
Twenty-one older women living in three rural communities participated in focus groups to explore the functional and psychosocial consequences of living with osteoporosis. The increased risk of fracture and daily pain associated with the disease frequently precluded or interfered with the completion of daily activities for these women. Those living on farms faced the additional challenge of avoiding the risk of falls while continuing to do the phy…
Older Adults' Preferences for Future Care
A total of 45 adults, ranging in age from 56 to 88, were asked whom they expected to provide care for them if they became frail. Past experiences, family structure, and current relationships with children and grandchildren influenced their perceptions of how they would manage in the future. For some individuals, evidence of family conflict was linked with plans not to rely on family members. Others with formal plans, and those who identified fami…
Grandfathers' Perceptions and Expectations of Relationships With Their Adult Grandchildren
Combining life course, feminist, and social-constructivist approaches with an inductive qualitative methodology, the authors explored the relationships of older men with their grandchildren. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 men, ranging in age from 59 to 82, who were part of a larger sample of 45 older adult grandparents. From their analyses of the men's perceptions of their family relationships, three main themes emerged: Geographic pr…
Older Women's Experiences with Chronic Pain
The subjective nature of chronic pain leads to challenges in describing, treating, and accommodating pain. Twenty older women, who engaged in focus groups, and eight of whom also participated in individual interviews, discussed the influence of chronic pain on their perception of self as well as daily functioning. Managing pain forced many of the women to withdraw from social activities that they valued and interfered with sleep patterns, househo…
Older Women Who Experience Mistreatment
Data from Virginia Adult Protective Services (APS) case files of 95 abused women aged 60 years and older were assessed to establish demographic trends; ability to care for self; type, pattern, and place of abuse; information on witnesses and alleged offenders; and case resolution and outcomes. The most common types of mistreatment reported were neglect, exploitation, and physical abuse. The women typically had several functional limitations and w…
Older Women's Experiences with Multiple Health Conditions
Guided by life-course theory and a trajectory model of chronic illness, we examined the health care practices and management strategies used by 17 older women with multiple chronic conditions. Qualitative analyses revealed that the women played an active role in shaping the course of their illness within their everyday lives. Pain and a decline in energy frequently interfered with completion of daily activities. To compensate, many women reduced …
Sexual Abuse of Vulnerable Young and Old Women
Aggregated data from 125 substantiated Adult Protective Services cases of sexually abused women were collected during a 5-year period. Women older than 59 years represented 63% of the cases. Regardless of age, the most common types of abuse involved sexualized kissing and fondling and unwelcome sexual interest in the women's body. Most identified perpetrators were older males. Family members were most likely to abuse women living in the community…
Research on Persistent Pain in Late Life
Older women often experience pain in their daily lives. This article provides an overview of topics addressed in the geriatric pain research published between 1999 and 2004. New areas of emphasis of research have emerged such as the recognition of body mass and weight as a factor in persistent pain, while other areas have expanded, including the focus on pain among elders with cognitive impairments and the use of alternative treatment approaches.…
Older Women with Cardiovascular Disease
In 2004, we conducted qualitative interviews with 29 White women diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD) living in Southwest Virginia, aged 69 to 92 years (M age = 79.2 years; SD = 6.8); time since diagnosis ranged from 1 to 50 years (M = 14.3; SD = 11.2). We explored the women's initial illness episode and the influence of CVD on their current daily functioning, family activities and relationships, and social engagement. The women were slow …
Psychology (44 obras) · Medicine (41 obras) · Gerontology (26 obras) · Developmental psychology (19 obras) · Sociology (19 obras) · Psychiatry (18 obras) · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving (15 obras) · Social Psychology (15 obras) · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes (12 obras) · Perception (11 obras)