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Everyday-Ageism

The Everyday Ageism Scale

Measuring: Measure routine ageism and distinguish it from other sources of everyday discrimination.

Number of Items: 10

Item Question Wording TILDA Variable
1 I hear, see, and/or read jokes about old age, ageing, or older people. SCQAgeism1
2 I hear, see, and/or read things suggesting that older adults and ageing are unattractive and undesirable. SCQAgeism2
3 People insist on helping me with things I can do on my own. SCQAgeism3
4 People assume I have difficulty hearing and/or seeing things. SCQAgeism4
5 People assume I have difficulty remembering and/or understanding things. SCQAgeism5
6 People assume that I have difficulty with mobile phones and computers. SCQAgeism6
7 People assume I do not do anything important or valuable. SCQAgeism7
8 Feeling depressed, sad, or worried is part of getting older. SCQAgeism8
9 Feeling lonely is part of getting older. SCQAgeism9
10 Having health problems is part of getting older. SCQAgeism10

Scoring Method:

Response options differ dependent on item. All 4-point Likert scale.

Items 1-7:

0 = Often
1 = Sometimes
2 = Rarely
3 = Never

Items 8 – 10
0 = Strongly agree
1 = Agree
2 = Disagree
3 = Strongly Disagree

  • All items are reverse coded.

  • A cumulative score is generated with higher scores representing higher exposure to everyday ageism (0-30).

Citation:

  • Allen, J. O., Solway, E., Kirch, M., Singer, D., Kullgren, J. T., & Malani, P. N. (2022). The Everyday Ageism Scale: Development and Evaluation. Journal of aging and health, 34(2), 147–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643211036131

Code

  • Stata
  • R
  • SPSS
mvdecode (Ageism1 Ageism2 Ageism3 Ageism4 Ageism5 Ageism6 Ageism7 Ageism8 Ageism9 Ageism10), mv  (-99=. \ -812=. \ -823=. \ -834 = . \ -845=. \ -856=. \ -867 = . \ -1=.)

foreach var in Ageism1 Ageism2 Ageism3 Ageism4 Ageism5 Ageism6 Ageism7 Ageism8 Ageism9 Ageism10 {
    gen `var'_rev = 4 - `var'
}

fre Ageism1_rev Ageism2_rev Ageism3_rev Ageism4_rev Ageism5_rev Ageism6_rev Ageism7_rev Ageism8_rev Ageism9_rev Ageism10_rev

 
* Subscale: Exposure to Ageist Messages (0–6)
gen AgeismExposure = Ageism1_rev + Ageism2_rev 

* Subscale: Interpersonal Ageism (0–15)
gen AgeismInterpersonal = Ageism3_rev + Ageism4_rev + Ageism5_rev + Ageism6_rev + Ageism7_rev

* Subscale: Internalized Ageism (0–9)
gen AgeismInternalised = Ageism8_rev + Ageism9_rev + Ageism10_rev

* Total Score (0–30)
gen AgeismTotal = AgeismExposure + AgeismInterpersonal + AgeismInternalised


codebook AgeismExposure
fre AgeismExposure

codebook AgeismInternalised
fre AgeismInternalised

codebook AgeismInterpersonal
fre AgeismInterpersonal

codebook AgeismTotal
fre AgeismTotal

lab var AgeismExposure "Everyday-Ageism scale: Exposure to ageist messaging"
lab var AgeismInterpersonal "Everyday-Ageism scale: Ageism in interpersonal interactions"
lab var AgeismInternalised "Everyday-Ageism scale: Internalised Ageism"
lab var AgeismTotal "Total scores of Everyday-Ageism Scale"

Download Stata .do file

ageism_items <- paste0("Ageism", 1:10)
special_missing <- c(-99, -812, -823, -834, -845, -856, -867, -1)

for (v in ageism_items) {
  data[[v]][data[[v]] %in% special_missing] <- NA_real_
  data[[paste0(v, "_rev")]] <- 4 - data[[v]]
}

rev <- paste0(ageism_items, "_rev")
for (v in rev) print(table(data[[v]], useNA = "ifany"))

# Ordinary addition matches the Stata source: any missing contributing item
# makes the corresponding subscale/total missing.
data$AgeismExposure <- data$Ageism1_rev + data$Ageism2_rev
data$AgeismInterpersonal <-
  data$Ageism3_rev + data$Ageism4_rev + data$Ageism5_rev +
  data$Ageism6_rev + data$Ageism7_rev
data$AgeismInternalised <-
  data$Ageism8_rev + data$Ageism9_rev + data$Ageism10_rev

data$AgeismTotal <-
  data$AgeismExposure + data$AgeismInterpersonal + data$AgeismInternalised

attr(data$AgeismExposure, "label") <-
  "Everyday-Ageism scale: Exposure to ageist messaging"
attr(data$AgeismInterpersonal, "label") <-
  "Everyday-Ageism scale: Ageism in interpersonal interactions"
attr(data$AgeismInternalised, "label") <-
  "Everyday-Ageism scale: Internalised Ageism"
attr(data$AgeismTotal, "label") <-
  "Total scores of Everyday-Ageism Scale"

summary(data[c(
  "AgeismExposure", "AgeismInternalised", "AgeismInterpersonal", "AgeismTotal"
)])

Download R file

RECODE Ageism1 Ageism2 Ageism3 Ageism4 Ageism5 Ageism6 Ageism7 Ageism8 Ageism9 Ageism10
  (-99=SYSMIS) (-812=SYSMIS) (-823=SYSMIS) (-834=SYSMIS)
  (-845=SYSMIS) (-856=SYSMIS) (-867=SYSMIS) (-1=SYSMIS).

DO REPEAT src = Ageism1 Ageism2 Ageism3 Ageism4 Ageism5 Ageism6 Ageism7 Ageism8 Ageism9 Ageism10
 /dst = Ageism1_rev Ageism2_rev Ageism3_rev Ageism4_rev Ageism5_rev Ageism6_rev Ageism7_rev Ageism8_rev Ageism9_rev Ageism10_rev.
  COMPUTE dst = 4 - src.
END REPEAT.

FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=Ageism1_rev Ageism2_rev Ageism3_rev Ageism4_rev Ageism5_rev Ageism6_rev Ageism7_rev Ageism8_rev Ageism9_rev Ageism10_rev /MISSING=INCLUDE.

COMPUTE AgeismExposure = Ageism1_rev + Ageism2_rev.
COMPUTE AgeismInterpersonal =
  Ageism3_rev + Ageism4_rev + Ageism5_rev + Ageism6_rev + Ageism7_rev.
COMPUTE AgeismInternalised =
  Ageism8_rev + Ageism9_rev + Ageism10_rev.
COMPUTE AgeismTotal =
  AgeismExposure + AgeismInterpersonal + AgeismInternalised.

VARIABLE LABELS
  AgeismExposure "Everyday-Ageism scale: Exposure to ageist messaging"
  AgeismInterpersonal "Everyday-Ageism scale: Ageism in interpersonal interactions"
  AgeismInternalised "Everyday-Ageism scale: Internalised Ageism"
  AgeismTotal "Total scores of Everyday-Ageism Scale".

DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=
  AgeismExposure AgeismInternalised AgeismInterpersonal AgeismTotal.

EXECUTE.

Download SPSS .sps file

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