Everyday activity parameters and competence in older adults

Factor Structure, Reliability and Convergent Validity of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey for Older Adults

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS) (Goldberg, Brintnell, & Goldberg, 2002) in a sample of older adults living in the greater Los Angeles area. The EMAS evidenced moderate test-retest reliability (r = .56) and good internal consistency (α = .89). Exploratory factor analysis (principal components) discerned a two-component structure within the EMAS, indicative of Personal-Competence and Social-Experiential meaning. The EMAS demonstrated theoretically predicted zero-order correlations with measures of meaning and purpose in life, depressive symptomology, life satisfaction, and health-related quality of life. Regression analyses discerned that purpose and meaning in life consistently predicted the EMAS and its components. Furthermore, persons reporting greater levels of Social-Experiential relative to Personal-Competence meaning had the lowest levels of physical health-related quality of life. This study offers initial evidence in support of the EMAS as a valid measure of meaningful activity in older adults.

The Meaningful Activity Participation Assessment: a measure of engagement in personally valued activities

The Meaningful Activity Participation Assessment (MAPA), a recently developed 28-item tool designed to measure the meaningfulness of activity, was tested in a sample of 154 older adults. The MAPA evidenced a sufficient level of internal consistency and test-retest reliability and correlated as theoretically predicted with the Life Satisfaction Index-Z, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey, the Purpose in Life Test, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Inventory and the Rand SF-36v2 Health Survey subscales. Zero-order correlations consistently demonstrated meaningful relationships between the MAPA and scales of psychosocial well-being and health-related quality of life. Results from multiple regression analyses further substantiated these findings, as greater meaningful activity participation was associated with better psychological well-being and health-related quality of life. The MAPA appears to be a reliable and valid measure of meaningful activity, incorporating both subjective and objective indicators of activity engagement.

Assessing competence: the European Survey on Aging Protocol (ESAP)

OBJECTIVES

The main goal of this research project was to translate and adapt the European Survey on Ageing Protocol (ESAP) to 7 European countries/cultures. This article presents preliminary results from the ESAP, the basic assessment instrument of EXCELSA (European Longitudinal Study of Aging).

METHODS

672 individuals aged 30-85, selected through quota sampling (by age, gender, education and living conditions), participated in this study, with 96 subjects from each of the 7 European countries. The basic research protocol for assessing competence and its determinants was designed to be administered in a 90-min in-home face-to-face interview. It contains a series of questions, instruments, scales and physical tests assessing social relationships and caregiving, mental abilities, well-being, personality, mastery and perceived control, self-reported health, lifestyles, anthropometry, biobehavioral measures and sociodemographic variables.

RESULTS

84% of ESAP measures are age-dependent and 75% of them discriminate between education levels. Minor differences were found due to gender, and between people living in rural and urban areas. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 10 factors accounting for 67.85% of total variance, one of which was identified as cognitive and physical 'competence'. This factorial structure was tested across countries through concordance coefficients. Finally, using structural equation modeling, our data were fitted into a model of competence. When the sample was split into younger groups (aged 30-49 years) and older ones (50 and more years), the same model was appropriate for our data.

DISCUSSION

The results are discussed in accordance with other findings on psychosocial, biophysical and sociodemographic components of competence, and also in accordance with theories on competence and successful aging.

Off-Target Verbosity, Everyday Competence, and Subjective Well-Being

BACKGROUND

Off-target verbosity (OTV), defined as prolific speech that is lacking in focus, is exhibited by relatively few older adults, but increases in prevalence with age.

OBJECTIVE/METHODS

The hypothesis that a high level of OTV is associated with declining competence in other aspects of everyday life was examined in 142 older adults, previously screened for the level of OTV. Competence was assessed based on self-reported changes since age 50 years in quality and quantity of engagement in eleven domains of instrumental and voluntary activities of everyday life.

RESULTS

Path models indicated that a high level of OTV was associated with a decreased competence in everyday activities and was indirectly linked, through competence, with lower well-being and greater loneliness. With competence level controlled, a high level of OTV directly predicted less loneliness.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support the hypothesis that a high level of OTV is symptomatic of a more general decline in competence and of less successful aging. However, a high level of OTV also entails a strong motivation for talking to others and thus may offer protection against loneliness.