Abstract
BackgroundHierarchical scales are useful in understanding the structure of underlying latent traits in many questionnaires. The Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) explored the attitudes to ageing of older people themselves, and originally described three distinct subscales: (1) Psychosocial Loss (2) Physical Change and (3) Psychological Growth. This study aimed to use Mokken analysis, a method of Item Response Theory, to test for hierarchies within the AAQ and to explore how these relate to underlying latent traits.MethodsParticipants in a longitudinal cohort study, the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, completed a cross-sectional postal survey. Data from 802 participants were analysed using Mokken Scaling analysis. These results were compared with factor analysis using exploratory structural equation modelling.ResultsParticipants were 51.6% male, mean age 74.0 years (SD 0.28). Three scales were identified from 18 of the 24 items: two weak Mokken scales and one moderate Mokken scale. (1) ‘Vitality’ contained a combination of items from all three previously determined factors of the AAQ, with a hierarchy from physical to psychosocial; (2) ‘Legacy’ contained items exclusively from the Psychological Growth scale, with a hierarchy from individual contributions to passing things on; (3) ‘Exclusion’ contained items from the Psychosocial Loss scale, with a hierarchy from general to specific instances. All of the scales were reliable and statistically significant with ‘Legacy’ showing invariant item ordering. The scales correlate as expected with personality, anxiety and depression. Exploratory SEM mostly confirmed the original factor structure.ConclusionsThe concurrent use of factor analysis and Mokken scaling provides additional information about the AAQ. The previously-described factor structure is mostly confirmed. Mokken scaling identifies a new factor relating to vitality, and a hierarchy of responses within three separate scales, referring to vitality, legacy and exclusion. This shows what older people themselves consider important regarding their own ageing.
Highlights
The population ageing we are witnessing today is unprecedented in the whole of human history [1]
From 0.05 to 0.15 all of the items formed a single scale after which two reliable scales were formed at Hs = 0.20 and four scales were formed at Hs = 0.25
Since no new information was being obtained and an increasing number of items were being excluded, the final solution to the Mokken scaling was evident at the lowest acceptable Hs of 0.30 and this is shown in Table 2 (note that the original wording of the items is presented, with (-) used to indicate the reverse scoring for Mokken analyses)
Summary
The population ageing we are witnessing today is unprecedented in the whole of human history [1]. A recent report [3] states the UK is ‘‘woefully underprepared’’ for the ageing of society with major changes required to our collective attitudes to ageing. There is a different more compelling narrative at the individual level, where the trajectory of ageing is experienced as more positive than expected as people report high levels of emotional stability and well-being as the norm [5]. Hierarchical scales are useful in understanding the structure of underlying latent traits in many questionnaires. The Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) explored the attitudes to ageing of older people themselves, and originally described three distinct subscales: (1) Psychosocial Loss (2) Physical Change and (3) Psychological Growth. This study aimed to use Mokken analysis, a method of Item Response Theory, to test for hierarchies within the AAQ and to explore how these relate to underlying latent traits
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