The attitudes to ageing questionnaire for young adults version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The attitudes to ageing questionnaire for young adults (AAQ-Y): Development and psychometric properties
IRAS ID
185211
Contact name
Hannah Grocott
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
The Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ: Laidlaw et al., 2007) is a widely used standardised measure of age stereotypes specifically designed for the use with older adults. The aim of this study is to develop a new version of the AAQ suitable for the use with young adults and establish the psychometric properties of the scale.
The study will analyse the factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity of this new instrument through the analysis of relationships with other variables that previous literature has shown to be associated with attitudes to ageing. To extend the limited empirical evidence available, this study also aims to compare the attitudes to ageing between clinical and non-clinical samples.
A total of 200 young adults aged between 18 and 60 will be recruited. The primary recruitment strategy will be the web survey. Participants will be a self-selected sample who express an interest in the research online. The study will be advertised at the University of East Anglia using the university’s notice boards and emails. To include a clinical sample of young adults, advertisements for the study will also be displayed on the social media channels of the Norfolk youth mental health service (i.e., their website, blog, and Twitter). If the primary recruitment strategy fails to recruit 200 participants after five months, then a second recruitment strategy by a face-to-face session will happen.
Participants will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires about attitudes to ageing, ageing anxiety, as well as their health. The survey will take around 40 minutes to complete in total.
The development of the AAQ for young adults has a significant potential to facilitate studies investigating attitudes among young people as well as exploring a way to tackle the challenges of demographic ageing and facilitate active ageing in society.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SW/0270
Date of REC Opinion
18 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion