The attitudes to ageing questionnaire: Mokken scaling analysis

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychometrics
• Latent Trait Theory

Background:

• The Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) originally comprised three subscales: Psychosocial Loss, Physical Change, and Psychological Growth.
• Hierarchical structures are valuable for understanding latent traits in questionnaires.
• This study investigated the AAQ's structure using Mokken analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test for hierarchical structures within the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ).
• To explore the relationship between these hierarchies and underlying latent traits.
• To refine the understanding of older adults' attitudes towards aging.

Main Methods:

• Mokken Scaling analysis was applied to data from 802 participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.
• Data were collected via a cross-sectional postal survey.
• Results were compared with factor analysis using exploratory structural equation modelling (SEM).

Main Results:

• Three Mokken scales were identified from 18 of the 24 AAQ items: 'Vitality' (moderate), 'Legacy' (weak), and 'Exclusion' (weak).
• 'Vitality' integrated items across previous factors, showing a physical to psychosocial hierarchy.
• 'Legacy' focused on psychological growth, with a hierarchy from individual to collective contributions.
• 'Exclusion' comprised psychosocial loss items, with a hierarchy from general to specific instances.
• All scales demonstrated reliability, with 'Legacy' exhibiting invariant item ordering.
• Scales correlated as expected with personality, anxiety, and depression measures.

Conclusions:

• Concurrent use of factor analysis and Mokken scaling offers enhanced insights into the AAQ.
• Mokken scaling confirmed the existing factor structure while identifying a new 'Vitality' factor.
• The analysis revealed a hierarchy of responses within the 'Vitality', 'Legacy', and 'Exclusion' scales.
• These findings highlight the factors older adults themselves deem important regarding their aging.