TY - JOUR
T1 - A Cross-National Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory
AU - Molde, Helge
AU - Nordhus, Inger Hilde
AU - Torsheim, Torbjørn
AU - Engedal, Knut
AU - Bendixen, Anette Bakkane
AU - Byrne, Gerard J
AU - Márquez-González, María
AU - Losada, Andres
AU - Feng, Lei
AU - Ow, Elisabeth Kuan Tai
AU - Pisitsungkagarn, Kullaya
AU - Taephant, Nattasuda
AU - Jarukasemthawee, Somboon
AU - Champagne, Alexandra
AU - Landreville, Philippe
AU - Gosselin, Patrick
AU - Ribeiro, Oscar
AU - Diefenbach, Gretchen J
AU - Blank, Karen
AU - Beaudreau, Sherry A
AU - Laks, Jerson
AU - de Araújo, Narahyana Bom
AU - Fonseca, Rochele Paz
AU - Kochhann, Renata
AU - Camozzato, Analuiza
AU - van den Brink, Rob H S
AU - Fluiter, Mario
AU - Naarding, Paul
AU - Pelzers, Loeki P R M
AU - Lugtenburg, Astrid
AU - Oude Voshaar, Richard C
AU - Pachana, Nancy A
PY - 2020/9/7
Y1 - 2020/9/7
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Assessing late-life anxiety using an instrument with sound psychometric properties including cross-cultural invariance is essential for cross-national aging research and clinical assessment. To date, no cross-national research studies have examined the psychometric properties of the frequently used Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in depth. METHOD: Using data from 3,731 older adults from 10 national samples (Australia, Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, and United States), this study used bifactor modeling to analyze the dimensionality of the GAI. We evaluated the "fitness" of individual items based on the explained common variance for each item across all nations. In addition, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was applied, testing for measurement invariance across the samples. RESULTS: Across samples, the presence of a strong G factor provides support that a general factor is of primary importance, rather than subfactors. That is, the data support a primarily unidimensional representation of the GAI, still acknowledging the presence of multidimensional factors. A GAI score in one of the countries would be directly comparable to a GAI score in any of the other countries tested, perhaps with the exception of Singapore. DISCUSSION: Although several items demonstrated relatively weak common variance with the general factor, the unidimensional structure remained strong even with these items retained. Thus, it is recommended that the GAI be administered using all items.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Assessing late-life anxiety using an instrument with sound psychometric properties including cross-cultural invariance is essential for cross-national aging research and clinical assessment. To date, no cross-national research studies have examined the psychometric properties of the frequently used Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in depth. METHOD: Using data from 3,731 older adults from 10 national samples (Australia, Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, and United States), this study used bifactor modeling to analyze the dimensionality of the GAI. We evaluated the "fitness" of individual items based on the explained common variance for each item across all nations. In addition, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was applied, testing for measurement invariance across the samples. RESULTS: Across samples, the presence of a strong G factor provides support that a general factor is of primary importance, rather than subfactors. That is, the data support a primarily unidimensional representation of the GAI, still acknowledging the presence of multidimensional factors. A GAI score in one of the countries would be directly comparable to a GAI score in any of the other countries tested, perhaps with the exception of Singapore. DISCUSSION: Although several items demonstrated relatively weak common variance with the general factor, the unidimensional structure remained strong even with these items retained. Thus, it is recommended that the GAI be administered using all items.
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbz002
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbz002
M3 - Article
VL - 75
SP - 1475
EP - 1483
JO - The Journals of Gerontology. Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - The Journals of Gerontology. Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
SN - 1079-5014
IS - 7
M1 - gbz002
ER -