title: Reminiscence functions scale: factorial structure and its relation with mental health in a sample of Spanish older adults.
abstract: The reminiscence functions scale (RFS) is a 43-item self-report instrument designed to assess the use of reminiscence for different functions. This study aims, on one hand, to analyze the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of the RFS and, on the other, to examine the relationship between the functions of reminiscence and mental health.
  
  
  
  RFS scale and measures of depressive symptomology, despair, and life satisfaction were administered to a sample of persons over the age of sixty (n = 364).
  
  
  
  After eliminating three conflictive items from the original scale, the confirmatory factor analysis results present a factorial structure comprising eight traditional factors and adequate reliability scores (from 0.73 to 0.87). Using structural equation modeling, we find that these reminiscence factors are organized in three second-order factors (self-positive, self-negative, and prosocial). Results show that the self-positive factor relates negatively and the self-negative factor relates positively with symptoms of mental health problems.
  
  
  
  These results, on one hand, confirm that the RFS scale is a useful instrument to assess reminiscence functions in a sample of Spanish older adults and, on the other, that the three-factor model of reminiscence is a better predictor of mental health than the alternative four-factor model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Faculty of Medicine,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain;Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5567-8589
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ros
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology,Faculty of Psychology,Valencia-46010,Spain.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Meléndez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Langara College,Vancouver-V5Y 2Z6,Canada.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology,Faculty of Psychology,Valencia-46010,Spain.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mayordomo
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology,Faculty of Psychology,Valencia-46010,Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sales
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Faculty of Medicine,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain;Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,Faculty of Medicine,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain;Research Institute of Neurological Disabilities,University of Castilla La Mancha,Albacete-02006,Spain.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Serrano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008603:Mental Health; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: aging; factor analysis; mental health; reminiscence