International relevance of two measures of awareness of age-related change (AARC)

• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-020-01767-6
• Publication Date: 2020-09-21T13:03:52Z
• Authors: Serena Sabatini; Obioha C. Ukoumunne; Clive Ballard; Allyson Brothers; Roman Kaspar; Rachel Collins; Sarang Kim; Anne Corbett; Dag Aarsland; Adam Hampshire; Helen Brooker; Linda Clare
• Keywords: Male; Aging; Subjective aging; Psychometrics; 150; 610; Cognitive functioning; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Self-perceptions of aging; Germany; Surveys and Questionnaires; Humans; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Aged; 4. Education; 05 social sciences; RC952-954.6; Reproducibility of Results; Awareness; Middle Aged; Geriatrics; AARC-10 SF; Quality of Life; Female; Research Article

AbstractBackgroundA questionnaire assessing awareness of positive and negative age-related changes (AARC gains and losses) was developed in the US and Germany. We validated the short form of the measure (AARC-10 SF) and the cognitive functioning subscale from the 50-item version of the AARC (AARC-50) questionnaire in the UK population aged 50 and over.MethodsData from 9410 participants (Mean (SD) age = 65.9 (7.1)) in the PROTECT cohort were used to explore and confirm the psychometric properties of the AARC measures including: validity of the factor structure; reliability; measurement invariance across men and women, individuals with and without a university degree, and in middle age, early old age, and advanced old age; and convergent validity with measures of self-perception of aging and mental, physical, and cognitive health. We explored the relationship between demographic variables (age, sex, marital status, employment, and university education) and AARC.ResultsWe confirmed the two-factor structure (gains and losses) of the AARC-10 SF and the AARC-50 cognitive functioning subscale. Both scales showed good reliability and good convergent validity for AARC losses, but weak convergent validity for AARC gains. For both scales metric invariance was held for the two subgroups defined by education level and age. For the AARC-50 subscale, but not for the AARC-10 SF, strong invariance was also held for the two subgroups defined by sex. Age, sex, marital status, employment, and university education predicted AARC gains and losses.ConclusionsThe AARC-10 SF and AARC-50 cognitive functioning subscale identify UK individuals who perceive age-related changes in their mental, physical, and cognitive health.