Confirmatory factor analysis of the General Self-Efficacy Scale
Section snippets
Confirmatory factor analysis of the General Self-Efficacy Scale
Since the percentage of people of 65 years and older has increased threefold since 1900 (Van Nostrand et al., 1993), the interest in studying factors that may explain changes in the various domains of functioning that occur with aging has grown exponentially. Self-efficacy is thought to be one such factor. Self-efficacy is defined as the belief of a person in his or her ability to organize and execute certain behaviors that are necessary in order to produce given attainments. Self-efficacy
Subjects
The present study is part of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). LASA is a 10 year interdisciplinary study on predictors and consequences of changes in autonomy and well-being in the aging population of the Netherlands. Details of the study have been described elsewhere (Smit and de Vries, 1994). LASA uses the sample recruited by the study Living Arrangements and Social Networks of Older Adults in the Netherlands (LSN: Knipscheer et al., 1995). LSN participants were approached for
Conclusion
The purpose of this research note was to replicate the factor structure of the 12-item GSES (Sherer et al., 1982) on a large sample of elderly persons using confirmatory factor analysis with maximum likelihood estimates. The three subscales that were shown in an exploratory study by Woodruff and Cashman (1993)were forced into the solution. Based on pilot work, one item was forced into a different subscale. Two items showed relatively lower factor loadings, but neither for reasons of content nor
Acknowledgements
This study is based on data collected in the course of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), which is funded by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports of the Netherlands.
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