Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS-12) among Italian Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Objectives

We developed a new Italian short version of the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS-12) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The GAS-12 specifically screens for anxiety symptoms in the Italian older adult population by identifying items that best discriminate anxiety in this population.

Methods

In Study 1, we administered the full-length Italian translation of the GAS to 517 older adults and used item response theory to identify the most discriminating items and to develop the short form used in Study 2. In Study 2, we evaluated the functioning of the new short form of the questionnaire in a new sample of 427 older adults using Confirmatory factor analysis.

Results

Analyses indicated 12 items that discriminated well between anxious and non-anxious participants and distributed along the latent continuum of each trait. The GAS-12 fits a three-factor structure. There was also evidence for convergent and divergent validity.

Conclusions

The Italian GAS-12 appears to be a useful instrument for the quantitative screening of anxiety in Italian older adults.

Clinical Implications

Anxiety imposes significant impairment thus making imperative the screening and assessment of anxiety symptoms. The GAS-12 is particularly indicated with limited time and many scales in a clinical assessment or research protocols.

KEYWORDS:

• Geriatric Anxiety Scale
• short form
• item response theory
• late-life anxiety
• factor structure
• measurement invariance
• gender differences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Description of authors’ role

L. Picconi and B. Fairfield designed the study, collected and analyzed data, and wrote the paper. D. L. Segal, J. Gottschling and A. Compare supervised the study, analyzed data, and assisted in writing the paper. A. Brugnera and Mr. Sergi assisted with data analysis and assisted in editing the manuscript. F. Cataldi, C. Padulo, and G. Parisi collected data and assisted in editing manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [L.P.], upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2022.2120445

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.