Do Relationships Exist Between Age, Gender, and Education and Self-Reports of Anxiety Among Older Adults?
Author(s): Patricia A. Lowe, Cecil R. Reynolds
Abstract: The present study examined the test score performance of 394 non-referred older adults on the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale-Elderly Version (AMAS-E; Reynolds, Richmond, &Lowe 2003c) to determine if demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, and education) are related to test score performance. Results of a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and follow-up Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) as well as two ANOVAs revealed that females and individuals with 7-12 years of education consistently reported higher levels of anxiety relative to males and individuals with 13-16 years of education on the Total Anxiety scale and the three anxiety subscales (i.e., Worry/Oversensitivity, Fear of Aging, and Physiological Anxiety). The only age difference to emerge was on the Physiological Anxiety subscale in which individuals in the 75-83 and 84-100 age groups reported higher levels of physiological anxiety in comparison to the 60-74 age group. These findings are relatively consistent with the studies examining the relationships between these different demographic variables and anxiety test scores at younger ages and suggest that the AMAS-E scores, as well as scores on other measures of anxiety, be interpreted within the context of an individual's gender, education, and age.
Pages: 239-259
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