Measurement and prediction of aging anxiety

Anxiety about aging has been virtually neglected in extant research, but su ch anxiety should become increasingly important to understand as the popula tion ages. This research addresses three questions pertaining to aging anxi ety. First, is aging anxiety a meaningful unidimensional construct? Second, what is the age pattern of aging anxiety? Third, what factors influence ag ing anxiety? Confirmatory factor analyses are conducted to examine the fact orial validity of an aging anxiety scale across age, sex, and race aggregat es. Structural equation models are used to determine the influence of sever al covariates. There were several important findings, including that (1) ag ing anxiety can be measured as a single construct, although the scale taps a somewhat different dimension for younger persons; (2) fear of social loss es does not appear to be a concern about aging; (3) the age pattern of anxi ety is declining, except across midlife; and (4) race, gender, socioeconomi c status, current health, income, education, and knowledge about aging each affect aging anxiety.