Development and initial validation of a self-report assessment tool for anxiety among older adults: The Geriatric Anxiety Scale

Abstract Anxiety is a common experience among older adults and can be a cause for major clinical concern. Brief and psychometrically sound screening instruments are needed to detect anxiety in later life. The purposes of this study were to develop a brief, self-report measure of anxiety for use with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of anxiety disorders 2010-10, Vol.24 (7), p.709-714
Main Authors: Segal, Daniel L, June, Andrea, Payne, Matthew, Coolidge, Frederick L, Yochim, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anxiety
Anxiety - diagnosis
Anxiety - psychology
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders - psychology
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Assessment
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical assessment
Elderly people
Female
Geriatric Anxiety Scale
Humans
Male
Measurement
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Older adults
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reproducibility of Results
Screening
Self-Assessment
Selfreport
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Validation
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Summary:Abstract Anxiety is a common experience among older adults and can be a cause for major clinical concern. Brief and psychometrically sound screening instruments are needed to detect anxiety in later life. The purposes of this study were to develop a brief, self-report measure of anxiety for use with older adults (called the Geriatric Anxiety Scale [GAS]) and to report on its preliminary psychometrics. The GAS includes 30 self-report items of which 25 items represent three common domains of anxiety symptoms among older adults (cognitive, somatic, and affective) and 5 items represent common content areas of worry. The GAS total score and subscale scores demonstrated good internal reliability in community dwelling and in clinical samples. In addition, correlation analyses provided solid evidence of convergent and construct validity for the GAS in both samples. Present results support the preliminary validity of the GAS for clinical and research purposes. We conclude with a discussion of limitations and future research topics.
ISSN:0887-6185
1873-7897
DOI:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.05.002