A VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY OF THE TURKISH VERSION OF THE AMBIVALENT AGEISM SCALE

Özet

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of theTurkish version of the Ambivalent Ageism Scale, which measures 2 forms of ageism,namely benevolent and hostile ageism.Materials and Methods: Data were collected from 222 adults through an onlinesurvey. Participants completed Turkish versions of the 13-item Ambivalent AgeismScale and the Implicit Association Test adapted for ageism. Construct validity wasassessed through confirmatory factor analyses. Internal consistency and split-halfconsistency were also calculated. Criterion validity was assessed by correlatingambivalent ageism and its subscales with implicit ageism scores.Results: The results of confirmatory factor analysis of 12-items confirmed theoriginal structure by exhibiting a good fit to the data (goodness of fit index = 0.93, p<.001, comparative fit index = 0.97, and root mean square error of approximation =0.07). Internal consistency of the Ambivalent Ageism Scale and its 2 subscales werefound to be satisfactory, with Cronbach’s alpha being .89 for benevolent ageism(9 items), .79 for hostile ageism (3 items), and .89 for the total scale. Scale had ahigh split-half reliability coefficient (0.95). Implicit ageism positively correlated withambivalent ageism (total score) and both benevolent ageism and hostile ageism(.22, .21, and .16, respectively). Except for cognitive assistance/protection, whichwas a sub-factor of benevolent ageism, no age and gender difference was found inany of the ageism scores.Conclusion: It was decided that the Turkish version of the Ambivalent AgeismScale is a valid and reliable measure of negative attitudes toward older adults.