Competence in independently living older adults: assessment and correlates

Twenty-seven independently living older adults (18 women and 9 men) ranging in age from 65 to 87 years were interviewed in order to assess their competence. "Competence" was defined as effectiveness in dealing with the problems and opportunities characteristic of one's environment. Each participant completed the Block Design and Similarities subtests of the WAIS and the Associate Learning subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale. Each participant was required to produce three samples of procedural discourse and one of narrative discourse. Participants were rated for competence on the basis off the interview and for quality of interview, procedural, and narrative discourse. The reliability of the competence rating was estimated as .70 for a single rater and as .90 for the average of four raters. Competence correlated significantly with most of the cognitive measures and with each of the three quality of discourse ratings.