Abstract
"Third agers" are people over retirement age in relatively good health; third agers make up an increasing percentage of the global population as the world's longevity increases. Therefore, the challenge of prolonging a healthy third age and shortening the unhealthy period during the "fourth age" in the global health and social contexts is important in this process. However, no means to measure and support this has been developed as yet. We developed the Social Contact Self-Efficacy Scale for Third Agers (SET) and evaluated its reliability and validity. We used a self-administered mail survey covering 2,600 randomly selected independent older adults living in Yokohama, Japan. The construct validity of the SET was determined using exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses. Its criterion-related validity was assessed using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence (JST-IC), and subjective health status. In total, 1,139 older adults provided responses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified eight items within two factors: social space mobility and social support relationship. The final model had a Cronbach's alpha 0.834, goodness-of-fit index 0.976, adjusted goodness-of-fit index 0.955, comparative fit index 0.982, and root mean square error of approximation 0.050. There was good correlation between scale scores and the GSES (r = 0.552, p < 0.001), JST-IC (r = 0.495, p < 0.001) and subjective health status (r = 0.361, p < 0.001). The SET showed sufficient reliability and validity to assess self-efficacy in promoting social contact among third agers. This scale may help third agers in gaining and expanding opportunities for social contact, which can improve their physical health and quality of life and contribute to care prevention and healthy longevity.
Highlights
The concept of life stages has altered dramatically in the 21st century, as people live increasingly longer
We developed the Social Contact Self-Efficacy Scale for Third Agers (SET) and evaluated its reliability and validity
The first age is the age of dependence and socialization; the second is the age of independence and reproduction, family and responsibility to society, the third is the age of achievement and the fourth is the age of dependence, senility and death [1]
Summary
The concept of life stages has altered dramatically in the 21st century, as people live increasingly longer. Laslett (1996) posited a new framework for age-independent life stages, consisting of four functional periods or ‘ages’. As of 2020, the proportion of older people in Japan’s population was 28.8% [4], the highest in the world. Japanese life expectancy is among the highest in the world and it keeps on increasing. Along with the extension of life span, healthy life expectancy—number of years people are expected to live in good health, that is, without needing long-term care and support—is increasing. It was 74.79 years old for women, and 72.14 years old for men in 2020 [5]. The gap between life expectancy (87.32 years old in women and 81.25 years old in men) and healthy life expectancy has remained the same, 9.1 years in men and 12.5 years in women
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