title: Assessing the social components of retirement anxiety.
abstract: In 4 studies involving 308 men and 384 women aged 25-76, a reliable instrument, the Social Components of Retirement Anxiety Scale (SCRAS), was developed to assess retirement anxiety. The 23-item SCRAS measures 4 factors:Social Integration and Identity, Social Adjustment/Hardiness, Anticipated Social Exclusion, and Lost Friendships. The scale strongly predicts fear of retirement and negative attitudes toward retirement. However, it seems not to be measuring simply a generalized emotional state, exhibiting only minimal correlations with more general measures of anxiety and depression. Elevated scores were observed particularly in persons for whom major social transitions are quite difficult--for example, those who were shy, lonely, had fewer instrumental or communal traits, or expected to have little personal control over their lives after retirement.
authors.affiliation: University of Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104.
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010556:Personality Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment