VALIDATION OF THE FRENCH-CANADIAN ADAPTATION OF THE OLDER ADULT SELF-REPORT

Back to Page Authors: Eric Yergeau, Yann Le Corff, Mathieu Busque-Carrier, Genevieve Rivard

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Keywords: mental health, older adults, confirmatory factor analysis, assessment

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Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to validate the factorial structure of the adaptation of the Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) in a French-Canadian sample. This 123 items checklist was developed through factor analysis of frequent behavioral, emotional and social problems in American older adults aged over 60 years old. OASR authors suggested that the seven-syndrome model of the original version has a good degree of validity. However, the testing of the validity of the model in a French-Canadian sample has been neglected in the literature. In this research, the translated French-Canadian version of the Older Adult Self-Report was administered to 323 older adults from Québec aged 60 and over. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on all problem items. After removing items with very low variance that led to empty cells in the tetrachoric correlation matrix, the seven-factor structure of the OASR had a good overall fit to the data. The present results support the validity of the OASR seven-factor model of older adult psychopathology, and indicate considerable commonality in basic patterns of self-reported psychopathology between French Canadians and other societies across the world.

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