Measurement of Aging Anxiety in an Elderly Australian Population

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to modify an existing aging anxiety scale to produce an instrument specifically designed to assess aging anxiety in an elderly population. Existing instruments fail to consistently orientate aging associated threats into the future, and this poses a significant problem for the measurement of aging anxiety in the elderly population. It is proposed that this factor has confounded reports of the relationship between aging anxiety and advancing age. An existing valid and reliable instrument, the Anxiety about Aging Scale was modified for use with elderly respondents and tested on 123 independent community dwelling elderly individuals. The results indicated the modified scale provides a valid assessment of aging anxiety in the elderly.