Development of a short form of the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ)

Objectives: The original 24-item Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ) is well established as a measure of attitudes to aging, comprising domains of psychosocial loss (PL), physical change (PC), and psychological growth (PG). This paper presents a new 12-item short form Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ-SF).

Methods: The original field trial data used to develop the 24-item AAQ (AAQ-24) were used to compare 6-item, 9-item, and 12-item versions of AAQ-SF (sample 1, n = 2487) and to test the discriminative validity of the selected 12-item AAQ-SF (sample 2, n = 2488). Data from a separate study reporting on the AAQ-24 (sample 3, n = 792) verified the analyses.

Results: The 12-item AAQ-SF reported adequate internal consistency in both sample 1 (PL α = .72, PC α = .72, and PG α = .62) and sample 3 (PL α = .68, PC α = .73, and PG α = .61). The AAQ-SF functioned consistently with the profile of the AAQ-24 in that subscales in both formats of this measure discriminate between respondents on key parameters such as depression, subjective health status, and overall quality of life in sample 2. Sample 3 also demonstrated the AAQ-SF can detect the differences in attitudes toward aging between individuals experiencing anxiety and depression and those without psychological symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the structure of the AAQ-SF mirrors that of the original 24-item AAQ.

Conclusions: The AAQ-SF is a robust measure of attitudes toward aging, which can reduce respondent burden when used within longer questionnaire batteries or longitudinal research. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.