Psychometric construction and validation of a measure of positive aging

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Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Education
Department Educational Psychology
Author Slagle, Clark
Title Psychometric construction and validation of a measure of positive aging
Date 2011-12
Description Gerontological research has expanded as human life expectancy has increased. Constructs have been created to capture the aging process and appear in the research literature as pathological aging, normal aging, usual aging, successful aging, and positive aging. Pathological aging described aging as a disease or aging in the presence of disease. Normal aging contrasts with pathological aging by describing aging in the absence of disease. Usual aging reframed the concept of passive acceptance of decline as normal; although it may be usual, it does not have to be the normal trajectory of aging. Successful aging characterizes agers who are in excellent physical health, have full cognitive functioning, and are actively engaged in life. Successful agers engage in behavior that decreases the likelihood of disease and subthreshold symptoms of disease. Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) was introduced as a means to address inevitable decline. Positive aging built on SOC by identifying cognitive and affective characteristics that can be engaged to address decline. Positive aging is described as an ability to mobilize one's resources, to respond flexibly to the challenges of aging, to maintain a sense of optimism, and to make affirmative life choices. Positive aging theory argues that these characteristics are obtainable by any person regardless of physical and cognitive health or level of engagement with life. This research study undertook the development and validation of a positive aging measure. The Positive Aging Measure (PAM) was developed by sampling (n=162) older adults (M=68.7 years of age) on the PAM and data provided strong convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability for the measure.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Assessment; Measure; Positive aging; Psychometric; Validity
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Clark Slagle 2011
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 702,019 bytes
Identifier us-etd3,73690
Source original in Marriott Library Special Collections; BF21.5 2011 .S43
ARK ark:/87278/s6kh132g
Setname ir_etd
ID 194694
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6kh132g
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