PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE WOLPE-LAZARUS ASSERTIVENESS SCALE WITHCOMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS

The psychometric properties of the Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Scale ( WLAS) were examined with an older community-dwelling, nonclinical, adu lt population. Three hundred twenty-seven older adults (ages, 57-96; m ean, 75.68) who were not psychiatrically impaired completed a demograp hic questionnaire and the WLAS. Fifty-seven of the 327 subjects also f illed out the WLAS on a repeated basis after 3 or 4 weeks in order to determine the test-retest reliability. Results indicate that the WLAS has an adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .75) and test -retest reliability (r = .81). WLAS cutoff scores of 14 and under iden tify unassertiveness. Older adults who are (1) African-American or (2) of lower SES tend to be significantly less assertive. Also, five fact ors emerged from a principal-components analysis accounting for 34.7% of the total variance.