Abstract
BackgroundAging perceptions have been found to be major contributors to health in old age. To quantitatively explore aging perceptions among elderly Turkish migrants, valid and reliable Turkish-language instruments are needed. The objective of the current study was to examine the construct validity and reliability of the Turkish-language version of the seven-dimension Aging Perceptions Questionnaire Short version (APQ-S) in a sample of community-dwelling elderly Turkish migrants in the Netherlands.MethodsA questionnaire including the Turkish-language APQ-S was administered to 438 community-dwelling Turkish migrants aged 65–99 years who resided in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The APQ-S includes 21 items in seven dimensions (timeline chronic and cyclical, consequence positive and negative, control positive and negative, and emotional representations). The questionnaire also contained items measuring well-being, physical and mental health-related quality of life, and number of chronic conditions.ResultsThe latent factor model of the Turkish APQ-S was found to have an acceptable fit (root mean square error of approximation = .06; standardized root mean square residual = .07; comparative fit index = .90). Each indicator loaded significantly on its corresponding latent factor, and standardized factor loadings > .40 supported the convergent validity of the Turkish APQ-S dimensions. The APQ-S was also found to have acceptable construct validity in terms of its inter-factor structure and its expected associations with various health measures and age, gender, educational level, and marital status. Contrary to expectations, income level was not associated with any APQ-S dimension. With the exception of timeline cyclical (α = .56), each APQ-S dimension had acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from .75 (timeline chronic) to .88 (control positive). Most APQ-S dimension scores differed significantly between elderly Turkish migrants and a general population of elderly Rotterdam residents, with Turkish elders having more negative and less positive aging perceptions.ConclusionThe Turkish-language version of the APQ-S is a psychometrically valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of aging perceptions among elderly Turkish migrants. Further research is needed to gain insight into aging perceptions and their health and sociodemographic correlates in this population.
Highlights
Aging perceptions have been found to be major contributors to health in old age
Construct validity and reliability Confirmatory factor analysis As multiple items violated the assumption of normality, maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors and chi-squared statistics was used to analyze the variance-covariance matrix [48, 49, 55]
A large and significant chi-squared value was found (χ2 [168] = 453.01, p < .001), as expected given the sample size [49]. These results were acceptable and largely comparable to those found for the Dutch Aging Perceptions Questionnaire Short version (APQ-S) data (RMSEA = .05; Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = .04; comparative fit index (CFI) = .94; χ2[168] = 589.80, p < .001) [12]
Summary
Aging perceptions have been found to be major contributors to health in old age. To quantitatively explore aging perceptions among elderly Turkish migrants, valid and reliable Turkish-language instruments are needed. Factors such as language difficulties, poor housing conditions, unfamiliarity with services and amenities for elders, and the increasing intolerance toward Muslim migrants in Europe create a less favorable environment for aging [2]. This environment may impact the health and well-being of elderly Turkish migrants. They report being lonely more often [10] This disadvantaged position in society may eventually negatively affect how these migrants experience and perceive their aging as a process and old age as a phase of life. The possibility of altering maladaptive aging perceptions makes these perceptions an attractive target for interventions [27]
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