Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Academia Journal of Educational Research, cilt.11, sa.9, ss.244-252, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
Life satisfaction is the cognitive component of subjective well-being, and it is the evaluation of life conditions according to one's own criteria. The aim of this study is to develop the Life Satisfaction Scale for the Elderly, which is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can measure life satisfaction specific to elderly individuals. The research is of methodological type. The population of the study consisted of elderly individuals aged 65 and above. After the item pool created for the scale was finalized, validity and reliability studies (exploratory factor analysis) of the scale were carried out with a total of 321 elderly individuals; 50.5% female (162) and 49.5% male (159). After expert opinions, content validity was evaluated, the construct validity of the scale was determined using explanatory and confirmatory factor analyzes, and the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient was examined to determine its reliability. According to the results of the explanatory factor analysis, the items were 'self-acceptance' (9 items), 'Motivation' (2 items), 'Peace' (3 items). According to the results of confirmatory factor analysis, it was determined that the fit indexes of the scale were at an acceptable level (χ2=126.665, sd=72, χ2/sd= 1.759, RMSEA=0.049, CFI=0.847, GFI=0.918). In addition, all path coefficients of all items were found to be statistically significant (p<0.050). In the reliability study of the Elderly Life Satisfaction Scale, the cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient of 14 questions in the scale was calculated as 0.874. The item analysis of the scale showed that the item-total correlations varied between 0.39 and 0.73, and according to the t-test results, the differences between the averages of the 27% lower-upper group items were significant in all items (p<0.05). The findings showed that the Elderly Life Satisfaction Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool and can be used in scientific studies. According to the results of confirmatory factor analysis, it was determined that the fit indexes of the scale were at an acceptable level and are a valid and reliable measurement tool.
Key words: Elderly, elderly health, life satisfaction, scale development