The purpose of this research was to develop an updated scale based on the framework that Neugarten, Havighurst and Tobin (1961) used to design the Life Satisfaction Index- Form A (LSI-A). The new instrument, the Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age (LSITA), was used to assess 654 third age adults in a measurement development process to establish the LSITA's psychometric properties. These individuals were Midwestern United States adults from selected third age learning events, retirement centers, church events, community centers and the general public. The participants were all over fifty years old consistent with the definition of the third age and the sample used in the original LSI-A sample.The arrival of the baby boom generation at the threshold of the third age heightened the need to better understand the barriers and contributors to successful aging. LSI-A had been the result of an effort in the early 1960's to measure the construct of successful aging. It has been the most used instrument in the psychosocial study of aging. The author had been involved in a research study that used LSI-A to explore the effects on participants in learning events on their sense of successful aging. The research project led to an appreciation of the importance of measuring successful aging as well as the need to apply current statistical techniques to a revised instrument based on Neugarten, Havighurst, and Tobin's theoretical framework.The LSITA was designed and its psychometric properties assessed using the eight-step design process from DeVellis (1991). The reliability of the 35-item scale was .93 with satisfactory content, construct and criterion validity. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and a satisfactory goodness of fit was obtained.The five sub-scales were as follows:zest for life without a sense of anxiety,successful resolution of life issues and the fortitude to continue,congruence of achievements with goals,positive self-concept,elevated mood tone.The new instrument has been made available to researchers by contacting the author at andybarrettii@earthlink.net. The expectation is that the researchers will provide the author with an electronic copy of their responses to add to the database. / Department of Educational Studies

The assessment of depression among older adults is difficult because depression rating scales can contain items that are related to cognitive deficits, physical illnesses, and other normal age changes. This study attempted to identify those items on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Revised (MMPI-2) depression scale which strongly correlated with age as a basis for dividing the depression scale into two subscales: one measuring aging and the other measuring depression. These subscales were then evaluated by comparing two groups of older adults, one depressed and the other healthy, to determine if there would be no difference on the aging.subscale and a significant difference on the depression subscale.This research was conducted in two stages. The first stage entailed giving the extracted MMPI-2 depression scale (MMPI-2 D) to healthy older adults (n=114, aged 60 and above) and to healthy younger college students (n=142, aged 18 to 29) in order to assess which of the 57 MMPI-2 depression items were correlated with age.Using a cutoff score of 20% endorsement difference (Butcher & Pancheri, 1976) between the two groups (p<.001), it was determined that fifteen items of the MMPI-2 D scale differentiated the healthy older adult and the healthy younger adult groups and were therefore related to aging and not depression. Twelve of these items were in the depressive direction for older adults. Those items which strongly correlated with age were used to create an aging subscale of the MMPI-2 depression scale (MMPI-2 Da). The remaining items were assumed to measure depression and were considered a depression subscale (MMPI-2 Dd).The second stage of this research addressed the utility of the subscales. It was hypothesized that the MMPI-2 Da (aging subscale) would not discriminate between depressed and healthy older adults since both groups were the same with respect to age. It was further hypothesized that the MMPI-2 Dd (depression subscale) would discriminate between these groups because the groups were different with respect to depression.When the two subscales were used with a new healthy older adult group (n=54) and a depressed older adult group (n=36), both hypotheses were supported. There was no significant difference between the healthy and depressed older adults on the aging subscale (MMPI-2 Da) and there was a significant difference on the depression subscale (MMPI-2 Dd). Implications and limitations of these findings were discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Self-concept has been defined as being both contextual and multidimensional, varying with different situations and states of being. In this light, the Ecological Q-Sort was developed to measure the varying nature of self-concept in older persons. The purpose of this study is to determine what contextual selves are represented within the framework of the Ecological Q-Sort. The cards of the test were rated and Ward's Hierarchical Clustering technique was utilized to categorize the cards along two dimensional rating factors. Statistical analysis revealed that social, productive, physical, play, active, assertive, and nurturing selves are represented .by the instrument. Those selves are measured by the Loneliness/Sociability, Productive/Relaxation, Vitality/Instability, Initiative/Inefficacy, Confidence/ Uncertainty, and Nurturing/Loss categories.

The present study was designed to empirically validate six theoretically derived cognitive domains (verbal memory, visual memory, working memory, attention-concentration, executive functions, and visuospatial abilities) assessed by a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests used in the Geriatric Memory Clinic at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The study examined the extent to which various cognitive dimensions are tapped by this battery in a heterogeneous geriatric sample of 114 patients with cognitive impairments. The proposed six-factor model of cognitive functioning has not been supported. Further exploratory factor analysis arrived at a five-factor solution. Factor pattern of the 23 tests supported the following five dimensions: memory, executive control, attention, visuospatial abilities, and cognitive flexibility.

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was originally designed as a measure for screening depression among elderly medical patients. Although this instrument is well validated among a general medical population, it has never been evaluated with specific regard to cardiac patients, the largest single group of medical patients over 40 years of age. A general cardiac sample of 655 patients completed the GDS within 10 weeks of the cardiac event. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on the main sample, then on several subgroups of participants with regard to diagnostic category, gender, and age. The GDS generally produces factor structures with several symptom domains with a high rate of total variance. The myocardial infarction group endorsed general symptoms of depression whereas the coronary artery bypass graft group reported greater levels of despair regarding their condition. Overall, males primarily reported agitation and hopelessness while females reported symptoms of depressed mood.

M.A. (Psychology) / The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of career involvement on the psycho-social well-being of the aged. An attempt was made to establish whether there would be any significant differences in life satisfaction, depression and self-concept, between economically active and non-active elderly persons. The research design was of an ex post facto nature. The sample consisted of 128 subjects between the ages of 60 and 80 years and was drawn from a middle to upper socio-economic population in the Witwatersrand area. Fifty of the respondents were still employed full-time, 16 were employed part-time and 62 were retired. Persons who reported poor physical health were excluded from the study. The Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale of Salamon and Conte and the Affect Balance Scale of Bradburn were used as measures of life satisfaction; the Centre for Epidemiological StudiesDepression Scale was used to measure depression and Vrey's Selfconcept Scale was used to measure self-concept. One way and two way analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses...