Exploring the psychometric robustness of a 5-item version of the WHO ageism experiences scale in a UK adult sample

Ageism can be defined as stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination based on a person’s age and has been shown in past research to be both common and harmful. In 2016 WHO received a mandate from its Member States to lead a major global campaign to address ageism against all ages. Evidence synthesised as part of the campaign brought into focus the need for new measures of ageism experiences that can capture its multidimensional nature, and that can be used to measure the experiences of individuals of a wide range of ages and living in diverse country settings. Previous research has documented the development and validation of a 15-item version of the newly developed 15-item scale; however, as space in large-scale surveys is at a premium, there is a strong need for even briefer versions. The current article proposes and evaluates a 5-item brief WHO ageism experiences scale that measures self-directed, interpersonal, and institutional ageism and covers stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination. Psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability and concurrent validity in a UK mixed-age adult sample (N= 402) were tested. Findings supported the convergent and divergent validity of the scale, and its test-retest reliability. It also showed patterns of associations with health and age that would be expected based on previous research. These results provide preliminary for support the use of the brief scale in contexts where survey space is highly constrained. It lays the foundation for future work to extend the testing of the 5-item scale in other languages, populations, and settings and to a wider range of relevant psychometric properties.