title: Reliability and validity of a Swedish version of Kogan's Old People Scale.
abstract: Standardized and well-tested instruments are needed in order to study attitudes toward old people. One scale that has been widely used is Kogan's Old People scale. A Swedish version of the scale has been available since 1987. The aim of this study was to test this Swedish version of the scale for reliability and validity, in a sample consisting of students and different health-care professionals. A convenience sample of 319 individuals in western Sweden took part in the study, and data were collected by means of a questionnaire that included the scale. Reliability was assessed as homogeneity and validity as construct validity. All but 4 of the 34 items were found to have significant item-total correlations. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.79. Some evidence of construct validity was found in a three-factor solution, which explained 30% of the variances. Strong evidence of construct validity was shown in the scale's capability to differentiate between individuals who rather preferred to work with old people (p < 0.005) than with young clients. Convergent validity, as a form of construct validity, was also supported for the scale.
authors.affiliation: Vänersborg University College of Health Sciences, Vänersborg, Sweden. olle.soderhamn@vbg.htu.se
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Söderhamn
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gustavsson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindencrona
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D010555:Personality Inventory; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013548:Sweden