Geriatric Anxiety Scale: item response theory analysis, differential item functioning, and creation of a ten-item short form (GAS-10)

Abstract

Results from the IRT analyses indicated that the GAS and GAS-10 have strong psychometric properties among older adults. We conclude by discussing implications and future research directions.

No Need to Count Sheep: Investigating an Online Insomnia Intervention among Older Adults

“…Anxiety symptoms (GAS-10) significantly decreased from both baseline (M = 7.33, SD = 3.65) to 1-month (M = 6.22, SD = 4.15) and from 1-week (M = 7.24, SD = 3.81) to 1-month, F(2, 88) = 6.41, p < .01, partial η2 = .13 (large effect), reflecting approximate improvements from mild anxiety to minimal anxiety (Mueller et al, 2015). Depression symptoms (GDS-S) also decreased from baseline (M = 4.50, SD = 3.32) to 1-month (M = 3.50, SD = 3.16) and from 1-week (M = 4.30, SD = 3.48) to 1-month, F(2, 88) = 8.84, p < .001, partial η2 = .17 (large effect).…”

“…The Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS-10; Mueller et al, 2015) is a 10-item brief measure that assesses the presence of anxiety in older adults and stems from the 30-item Geriatric Anxiety Scale. It takes approximately two minutes to complete.…”

“…Scores are summed to provide a total score with the following categories: minimal anxiety (scores of 1-6); mild anxiety (scores of 7-9); moderate anxiety (score of 10); and severe anxiety (scores of 12-30). Research investigating the psychometric properties of this measure demonstrated that it has excellent reliability, convergent validity, and factor structure (Mueller et al, 2015). Validation studies comparing the screening ability of the GDS-S to the full GDS have found comparable results, indicating that the GDS-S can be used to screen for depression (Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986).…”

Construct validity of the Chinese version of WHOQOL-BREF &amp; Disabilities module in 1000 adults with disabilities: An Item Response Theory analysis

“…For the WHOQOL-BREF, construct validity has been evaluated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses [2], multitrait analysis [3] and Pearson correlations [4]. As a modern psychometric method, Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis has been invited into questionnaire development, refinement, evaluation, and item reduction [5][6][7][8][9]. In particular, IRT analysis can also be used for evaluating construct validity of a scale.…”

Late-life anxiety is coming of age

“…Prominent examples are the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI, Pachana et al, 2007) and the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS, Segal et al, 2010). Both instruments are put to the test in this issue and both perform very well (Mueller et al, 2015, Johnco et al, 2015. It is interesting that the makers of the two instruments have chosen a different strategy to deal with putative overlap with symptoms of physical illness.…”