What Is Successful Aging? A Psychometric Validation Study of Different Construct Definitions

  • Luca Kleineidam (Shared first author)
  • Myriam V Thoma (Shared first author)
  • Andreas Maercker
  • Horst Bickel
  • Edelgard Mösch
  • André Hajek
  • Hans-Helmut König
  • Marion Eisele
  • Tina Mallon
  • Tobias Luck
  • Susanne Röhr
  • Siegfried Weyerer
  • Jochen Werle
  • Michael Pentzek
  • Angela Fuchs
  • Birgitt Wiese
  • Silke Mamone
  • Martin Scherer
  • Wolfgang Maier
  • Steffi G Riedel-Heller (Shared last author)
  • Michael Wagner (Shared last author)

Abstract

Background and Objectives: We examined the validity of 5 successful aging (SA) operationalizations that assessed different facets of the SA construct (cognitive and physical health and disability; well-being; social engagement).

Research Design and Methods: A total of 2,478 participants (mean age = 82.5 years, standard deviation [SD] = 3.47) were studied. We used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the relationships between facets and to determine the convergent validity as well as short-term (1.5 years) and long-term (4.5 years) predictive validity of the 5 SA operationalizations for measures of quality of life (QoL) and objective health outcomes.

Results: A general SA operationalization that included all SA facets but also allowed differences between them showed the best model fit and construct validity. A biomedical operationalization of SA that excluded either the well-being or the social engagement facet showed lower convergent and predictive validity for subjective measures (e.g., QoL) but higher associations with objective measures (e.g., health). A purely psychosocial SA operationalization that excluded the physiological facet did not allow good prediction of objective health outcomes.

Discussion and Implications: Our results suggest that a well-balanced SA operationalization should include measures assessing health, disability, well-being, and social engagement.

Bibliographical data

Original languageEnglish
ISSN0016-9013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16.07.2019

Comment Deanary

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PubMed 30016435