Counselor Knowledge of the Age-Specific Features of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Older Adults

Abstract

Abstract. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most common anxiety disorder in older adults. To date, however, no measure exists to assess counselor knowledge of older-adult GAD including these age-specific features. A measure entitled the Counseling Older Adult GAD Knowledge Inventory (COGI) was developed to fill this gap. Based on research with other areas of counselor knowledge, we hypothesized a unidimensional factor structure to this area of knowledge and tested the COGI on 100 practicing mental-health counselors. A minimum average partial test revealed one factor of 13 items. This factor was entitled: Knowledge of GAD in Older Adults. No item querying prevalence was retained. Potential uses of the COGI in training and research were discussed.