Psychometric Properties of the Geriatric Anxiety Scale: Comparison to the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory

Abstract

This study explored the convergent and discriminant validity of the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), a new measure of anxiety symptoms for older adults. The GAS, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI), Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered to 117 community-dwelling, predominantly White, older adults (62% female; M age = 74.75 years, range = 60 − 89 years; M years of education = 14.97). Scores on the GAS were strongly associated with scores on measures of anxiety and depression, but not associated with scores on measures of reading ability or processing speed. The GAS possesses strong convergent and discriminant validity and shows promise as a measure of anxiety in older adults.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• assessment
• Geriatric Anxiety Scale
• late life
• older