Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 May;27(5):521-8. doi: 10.1002/gps.2747. Epub 2011 Jul 1.
As the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is rapidly increasing, apprehension about developing the degenerative disease (anticipatory dementia or fear of developing AD) has become a topic of interest. However, most studies of anticipatory dementia have utilized brief, nonvalidated measures to explore older adults' apprehension. As such, there is a significant need for a psychometrically sound instrument to measure this fear.
The current study utilized 101 older adults ages 65 to 91 to develop and validate an important new scale, the Fear of Alzheimer's Disease Scale (FADS). Construct validity of the FADS was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y (STAI-Y).
Analyses revealed a three-factor model for the FADS (i.e., General Fear, Physical Symptoms, and Catastrophic Attitude) and an α of 0.94 for the entire measure, indicating good internal consistency. The FADS demonstrated good construct validity, as it was significantly correlated with both the state and trait subscales of the STAI-Y, with the trait subscale yielding the highest correlation.
The FADS is a reliable and valid instrument and is the first of its kind available to directly address anticipatory dementia among a general population of older adults.
随着阿尔茨海默病（AD）的患病率迅速上升，对这种退行性疾病（预期性痴呆或对 AD 的恐惧）的担忧已成为一个关注的话题。然而，大多数关于预期性痴呆的研究都使用简短的、未经验证的措施来探索老年人的担忧。因此，需要一种具有良好心理测量学特性的工具来衡量这种恐惧。
本研究利用 101 名年龄在 65 至 91 岁的老年人，开发并验证了一个重要的新量表，即阿尔茨海默病恐惧量表（FADS）。FADS 的结构效度采用状态特质焦虑问卷-Y 型（STAI-Y）进行评估。
分析显示，FADS 具有三因素模型（即一般恐惧、身体症状和灾难性态度），整个量表的α系数为 0.94，表明内部一致性良好。FADS 具有良好的结构效度，因为它与 STAI-Y 的状态和特质分量表显著相关，而特质分量表的相关性最高。
FADS 是一种可靠有效的工具，是针对一般老年人群体中预期性痴呆的首个同类工具。
