Suitability of the Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire Short Form for Use among Adults in Their 50s: A Cross-Sectional e-Survey Study (original) (raw)
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The attitudes to ageing questionnaire (AAQ): development and psychometric properties
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2007
Objective This paper describes the development of the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) which is a self-report measure with which older people themselves can express their attitudes to the process of ageing. Method The development of the AAQ followed a coherent, logical and empirical process taking full account of relevant gerontological knowledge and modern and classical psychometric analytical methods. Pilot testing with 1,356 participants from 15 centres worldwide refined the scale and provided the basis for a field test. A total of 5,566 participants from 20 centres worldwide contributed to the further development of this new scale with the derivation involving both classical and modern psychometric methods. Results The result is a 24-item cross-cultural attitudes to ageing questionnaire consisting of a three-factor model encompassing psychological growth, psychosocial loss, and physical change. The three-factor model suggests a way of conceptualizing and measuring successful ageing in individuals. Conclusions The AAQ provides researchers, clinicians and policy makers with a unique scale to measure the impact of successful ageing interventions. It also provides a vehicle for the measurement of how individuals age across cultures and under different economic, political and social circumstances.
BMC …, 2007
Background: Self-perceptions of aging have been implicated as independent predictors of functional disability and mortality in older adults. In spite of this, research on self-perceptions of aging is limited. One reason for this is the absence of adequate measures. Specifically, there is a need to develop a measure that is theoretically-derived, has good psychometric properties, and is multidimensional in nature. The present research seeks to address this need by adopting the Self-Regulation Model as a framework and using it to develop a comprehensive, multi-dimensional instrument for assessing self-perceptions of aging. This study describes the validation of this newly-developed instrument, the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ).
Journal of Adult Development, 2018
The Attitude Toward Own Aging (ATOA) Scale assesses an individual's evaluation of their own aging, and has been widely used in the field of subjective aging literature. The present study examined whether the ATOA scale measures the same construct across middle-aged (40-60), young-old (61-74), and old-old adults (ages 75 or older) and also evaluated the construct validity of the ATOA construct in relation to measures of subjective well-being. Data drawn from the 2008 wave of the German Aging Survey (DEAS; n = 6091) were used. ATOA was assessed by the ATOA subscale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS), and subjective well-being was assessed with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model fit of the one-factor model consisting of four items fits the data well. Multi-group invariance analyses provide evidence for configural and metric invariance of the ATOA scale across the age groups, but not for scalar invariance. Additional analysis assessing construct validity indicated that the ATOA items exhibited convergent validity. The findings support the utility of the 4-item scale when examining age group differences of ATOA across a wide age range and that ATOA is distinct from measures of subjective well-being.
BMC Geriatrics, 2012
Background: Several studies have shown the influence of the perceptions of aging on the cognitive functioning and the mental and physical health of older people. These relationships have not to date been studied in France where validated instruments are lacking. The primary objective of this study was to validate a French-language version of the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) in the French general population aged 65 and over. The secondary objective was to study the stability of the dimensions of this instrument among participants aged 55 to 64. Methods: The study was proposed to the cohort of the Observatoire Régional du Vieillissement (OPREVI) (observatory of aging), located in a small town in Poitou-Charentes (western France). An anonymous questionnaire including the APQ was sent by mail to inhabitants aged 55 and over. The original English language APQ was described with adults aged 65 and older. It has 32 items distributed on 7 dimensions: timeline chronic and cyclical, positive and negative consequences, positive and negative control and emotional representations.
Assessing Adjustment to Aging: A Validation Study for the Adjustment to Aging Scale (AtAS)
Social Indicators Research, 2013
ABSTRACT Adjustment to aging (AtA) is a multifactor adjustment process with implications on aging well among older adults. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale to assess the factors that older adults recognized as indicators of their AtA, with a cross-national comparative perspective towards aging well. Convenience sampling was used to gather questionnaire data, including demographics and the proposed scale. Complete data was available for 1,291 older community-dwelling adults, aged between 75 and 102 years (M = 83.9; SD = 6.68), who represented four different nationalities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed for dimension reduction and exploration of the factorial structure. Data gathered with the 22-items AtA five-factor scale showed overall good psychometric properties (in terms of distributional properties, statistical significant factor weights, factorial, convergent, discriminant criterion and external-related validities, as well as reliability). Five factors were selected for the Adjustment to Aging Scale: (a) sense of purpose and ambitions (b) zest and spirituality; (c) body and health; (d) aging in place and stability; and (e) social support. We present a 22-item scale with five factors for AtA estimation in a cross-national elderly population which produced valid and reliable data for elder persons from four different nationalities. Results showed that this scale is an adequate cross-cultural instrument for research, clinical practice and program development in the health care context. These may benefit from clearly understanding AtA as an important component for reducing health disparities and for aging well, across nationalities.
Age, Attitudes to Aging, and Identity in Older Canadian Women
Innovation in Aging, 2021
The life course perspective emphasizes social structure, personal agency, and their interdependencies (Settersten et al., 2020), serving as the theoretical framework for this study. Given stereotypical societal views of gender and aging (e.g., Sontag, 1979), physical aging is often the focus when examining women’s aging attitudes and concomitant changes in a sense of personal identity. Additionally, studies of midlife women have found relationships between age and identity (e.g., Stewart et al., 2001). Using quantitative and qualitative data, the present study examines associations between age, personal identity, and attitudes to physical, psychological and social aging in older Canadian women (N = 190, Mage = 70.38). Results show that while attitudes to physical aging contribute to identity maintenance, attitudes to social and psychological aging are also important for older women’s identity maintenance. Interactions between age and attitudes to aging associated with personal ident...
Older Men's Lay Definitions of Successful Aging Over Time: The Manitoba Follow-Up Study
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 2013
The concept of “successful aging” has become widely accepted in gerontology, yet continues to have no common underlying definition. Researchers have increasingly looked to older individuals for their lay definitions of successful aging. The present analysis is based on responses to five questionnaires administered to surviving participants of the male Manitoba Follow-up Study cohort ( www.mfus.ca ) in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 ( n = 2,043 men were alive at a mean age of 78 years in 1996). One question on each survey asked: “What is YOUR definition of successful aging?” Applying content analysis to the 5,898 narratives received over the 11 years, we developed a coding system encompassing 21 main themes and 86 sub-themes defining successful aging. We quantitatively analyzed trends in prevalence of themes of successful aging prospectively over time. Our findings empirically support colleagues' past suggestions to shift from defining successful aging in primarily biomedical t...