The elderly population appears to be the most affected by the scam phenomenon due to a number of vulnerability factors, including a weakened Theory of Mind and of the decision-making processes. The "Pensiamoci bene" intervention is a pilot study aiming to verify the effectiveness of an educational intervention to train and promote those skills easily susceptible to scams in the elderly population, and to analyze predictors of intervention effectiveness. Sixty older participants without cognitive impairments were recruited and divided into three groups: the experimental group, which received the "Pensiamoci bene" intervention, the active control group, which participated in cognitive stimulation training, and the passive control group, which received no intervention. For all three groups, the following questionaries were used: Demographic Questionnaire, Susceptibility to Scam Scale (SSS) to measure susceptibility to scams, the Guillability Scale to assess the ability of detect deceptive and persuasive behaviours, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) for well-being and finally the Scams Questionnaire. The results of the present research showed that there was a reduction in the Guillability Scale scores from the pre-test and to the post-test only in the experimental group. The elderly individuals who took part in the educational intervention perceived themselves as less guillable and less inclined to be deceived, compared to the other two groups. Furthermore, those who started with higher scores in the Guillability Scale regardless of the other variabilities taken into consideration such as age, gender, and years of study, were those who benefited most from participating in the experimental intervention. The training did not produce significant effect on either susceptibility to scams or well-being. From the results of this pilot study, it was possible to work on the participants' beliefs, specifically reducing their belief about being guillable. In a future prospective, it would also be interesting to work on the elderly's ability to detect deception. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to continue research in this area, so that the gaps in the literature can be filled and the elderly individuals can be better protected.
La popolazione anziana risulta essere quella più colpita dal fenomeno delle truffe a causa di alcuni fattori di vulnerabilità, tra cui un indebolimento della Teoria della Mente e dei processi decisionali. L’intervento “Pensiamoci bene” è uno studio pilota che mira a verificare l’efficacia di un intervento educativo volto ad allenare e promuovere le abilità sottostanti la suscettibilità alle truffe nella popolazione anziana e analizzare i predittori dell’efficacia dell’intervento. Sono stati reclutati 60 partecipanti senza decadimento cognitivo, suddivisi in tre gruppi: il gruppo sperimentale, che ha ricevuto l’intervento “Pensiamoci bene”, il gruppo di controllo attivo, che ha partecipato ad un training di stimolazione cognitiva, il gruppo di controllo passivo che non ha ricevuto nessun tipo di intervento. Per tutti e tre i gruppi sono stati utilizzati i seguenti questionari: Questionario demografico, Susceptibility to Scam Scale (SSS) per misurare la suscettibilità alle truffe, la Guillability Scale per valutare la capacità di individuare comportamenti ingannevoli e persuasivi, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) per il benessere e infine il Questionario truffe. Dai risultati della presente ricerca è emerso che vi è stata una riduzione nei punteggi della Guillability Scale dal pre-test al post-test soltanto nel gruppo sperimentale. Gli anziani che hanno preso parte all’intervento educativo si percepivano come meno creduloni e propensi ad essere ingannati, rispetto agli altri due gruppi. Inoltre, coloro che partivano da punteggi più alti nella Guillability Scale indipendentemente dalle altre variabili prese in esame come età, genere e anni di studio, erano coloro che hanno giovato maggiormente alla partecipazione all’intervento sperimentale. Il training non ha prodotto nessun effetto significativo né per quanto riguarda la suscettibilità alle truffe, né per quanto riguarda il benessere. Con il seguente studio pilota è stato possibile lavorare sulle credenze dei partecipanti, andando a ridurre in modo particolare la loro credenza circa l’essere creduloni. In una prospettiva futura sarebbe interessante lavorare anche sulle abilità degli anziani di cogliere l’inganno. Dunque, è di fondamentale importanza proseguire la ricerca in quest’ambito, in modo tale da poter colmare le lacune presenti in letteratura e fornire agli anziani una maggiore protezione.
Il fenomeno delle truffe nella popolazione anziana: uno studio pilota per la prevenzione
LUONGO, ARIANNA
2023/2024
Abstract
The elderly population appears to be the most affected by the scam phenomenon due to a number of vulnerability factors, including a weakened Theory of Mind and of the decision-making processes. The "Pensiamoci bene" intervention is a pilot study aiming to verify the effectiveness of an educational intervention to train and promote those skills easily susceptible to scams in the elderly population, and to analyze predictors of intervention effectiveness. Sixty older participants without cognitive impairments were recruited and divided into three groups: the experimental group, which received the "Pensiamoci bene" intervention, the active control group, which participated in cognitive stimulation training, and the passive control group, which received no intervention. For all three groups, the following questionaries were used: Demographic Questionnaire, Susceptibility to Scam Scale (SSS) to measure susceptibility to scams, the Guillability Scale to assess the ability of detect deceptive and persuasive behaviours, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) for well-being and finally the Scams Questionnaire. The results of the present research showed that there was a reduction in the Guillability Scale scores from the pre-test and to the post-test only in the experimental group. The elderly individuals who took part in the educational intervention perceived themselves as less guillable and less inclined to be deceived, compared to the other two groups. Furthermore, those who started with higher scores in the Guillability Scale regardless of the other variabilities taken into consideration such as age, gender, and years of study, were those who benefited most from participating in the experimental intervention. The training did not produce significant effect on either susceptibility to scams or well-being. From the results of this pilot study, it was possible to work on the participants' beliefs, specifically reducing their belief about being guillable. In a future prospective, it would also be interesting to work on the elderly's ability to detect deception. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to continue research in this area, so that the gaps in the literature can be filled and the elderly individuals can be better protected.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/27111