中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: Several studies have found that a person's attitude toward aging is a significant predictor of survival, physical health, and psychological health. However, there are no suitable scales for evaluating attitude toward aging in Taiwan. The purpose of this present study is to develop the Taiwan Attitude toward Aging Questionnaire (TAAQ) to meet this need. Method: After reviewing relevant inventories and studies, we developed 16 items to form the TAAQ. From 2010-2012, a total of 255 participants (mean age 77.39, 52.2% female) from a comprehensive geriatric assessment outpatient study filled out the TAAQ. A total of 41 of them were retested during their regular 3-month follow-up. We randomly split the sample into two groups to analyze the data. Group 1 was used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA, n=128). Group 2 was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, n=127). Cronbach's α was used to evaluate internal consistency, and the intra-class correlation coefficient was calculated for test-retest reliability. Criterion-related validity was assessed through comparison with the following scales: 1) the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS), 2) the Barthel Index, 3) the Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), 4) the WONCA/COOP scale, 5) the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS), and 6) the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Results: The EFA revealed that the TAAQ consists of 2 factors: Negative Self-Perception of Aging (NSPA) and Positive Self-Perception of Aging (PSPA). The Cronbach's αs of these two factors were .78 and .80, respectively, with 3-month test-retest reliabilities of .79 and .81. The results of the CFA showed that the 2-factor model was acceptable with good overallmodel fit (x^2=111.75, p=.218, GFI=0.90, CFI=0.97, RMSEA=0.03, and SRMR=0.06), which indicates that the TAAQ has sound construct validity. The correlational analyses showed that the TAAQ has proper criterion-related validity. PSPA had significant positive correlations with the PGCMS (r=.39), the Barthel Index (r=.25), and the IADL (r=.33), while NSPA had significant negative correlations with them (PGCMS, r=-.53; Barthel Index, r=-.27; and IADL, r=- .32). PSPA had significant negative correlations with the WONCA/COOP (r=-.37), the BSRS(r=-.33), and the GDS-15 (r=-.57), while NSPA had significant positive correlations with them (WONCA/COOP, r=.42; BSRS, r=.41; and GDS-15, r=.58). Furthermore, after partialing out PSPA, NSPA still had significant correlations with the PGCMS (r=-.43), the Barthel Index (r=-.16), the IADL (r=-.16), the WONCA/COOP (r=.28), the BSRS (r=.28), and the GDS-15 (r=.38). Conclusions: Our preliminary results showed that the TAAQ has good psychometric properties, with good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. It is a useful tool to evaluate attitude toward aging in Taiwan, even in clinical settings.