title: Attitudes of middle-aged women to aging: contribution of the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire.
abstract: Attitudes to aging in mid-life have been found to be a predictor of health and well-being. The main purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire (RAQ) to the understanding of middle-aged women's attitudes towards their aging. An additional purpose was to expand the existing information regarding the dimensions of the new version of the RAQ. Middle-aged Melbourne women (n = 381) were asked to complete the RAQ, in addition to another attitudes-to-aging scale (Worries About Aging). Factor analysis of the RAQ was used to explore its dimensionality, and frequencies of responses were used to assess the spread of response of both instruments. The factors extracted in the factor analysis of the RAQ were interpretable and meaningful in terms of emotions related to aging. They were also similar to the factors described by previous data. The RAQ was more effective in its distribution ability than the Worries About Aging Scale. With some modifications, the RAQ may be more informative than was the Worries About Aging Scale in its ability to assess emotions, opinions and beliefs associated with aging in middle-aged women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Netz
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Guthrie
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garamszegi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dennerstein
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D016387:Women's Health