Browsing by Author "Fernandes, Sara Cristiana Barros"
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- A Validation of the Brief Ageing Perceptions Questionnaire (B-APQ) Among Elderly Portuguese AdultsPublication . Fernandes, Sara Cristiana Barros; Pereira, Henrique MarquesFor the 2nd cycle in Clinical and Health Psychology, this dissertation is organized in an article format, as foreseen in the regulation of the master's degree in Psychology of the Beira Interior University. The purpose of this dissertation was to deepen the knowledge and skills of intervention and research in psychology, as well as the development of methodological procedures that allowed the validation of an evaluation measurement on self-perceptions regarding aging and to understand the differences between perceptions, sex and sexual orientation. The study is of a quantitative nature and its relevance is due to the worldwide increase of the elderly population, mainly in Portugal, which is currently considered one of the European Union countries with a higher rate of aging. Despite the increase in research on this subject, it is necessary to invest more in the knowledge related to this age group with the Portuguese population, since it will provide important information that will facilitate the planning of prevention and intervention programs. Knowing the particularities of the aging process in sexual minorities is also a necessity, since it is a subject understudied in Portugal. Therefore, the objectives of the research were: (1) to validate psychometrically an instrument to evaluate self-perceptions regarding aging; and (2) compare differences in perceptions between sex and sexual orientations. The sample (N) consisted of 722 participants, encompassing 404 (55.9%) males and 318 (44.1%) females between the ages of 50 and 95 years old (mean=60.55; SD=9.23). Of the 722 participants, 76.5% identified themselves as heterosexual, while 16.6% self-identified as homosexual and 6.9% identified themselves as bisexual. The results of study 1 demonstrated that: (1) the model’s goodness-of-fit indices were adequate for all 5 factors of the Portuguese version of the B-APQ model; (2) all factors of the B-APQ were associated with the CES-D, showing the link between aging self-perceptions and depression; (3) factors 2 and 4 were negatively associated with the CES-D; (4) the sensitivity analysis indicated that all items presented adequate scores; and (5) the Cronbach’s alphas was acceptable for all factors in the Portuguese version of the B-APQ, indicating that it preserved the scale’s internal consistency. Therefore, due to the described results, it is possible to affirm that the Portuguese version of the B-APQ is valid and reliable, and it can be applied when assessing aging perceptions among older Portuguese adults. From study 2, the results show that: (1) statistically significant differences were obtained when comparing sex, indicating that women present greater depressive symptomatology; (2) for all B-APQ factors, no statistically significant differences were found between men and women; (3) statistically significant differences in levels of depression based upon sexual orientation where found, with self-identified homosexual participants presenting more depressive symptoms; and (4) there are statistically significant differences for factors 2 and 4 of the B-APQ, as self-identified homosexual participants scored lower than their heterosexual and bisexual counterparts, indicating that they possess more negative aging perceptions. In this sense, and according to the results obtained, it is necessary that institutional entities perceive the importance of providing the elderly, regardless of their sex or sexual orientation, the conditions to reach a more positive and successful aging. The present dissertation contributes to the increase of research in the area of the aging process, representing an investigation that allows an improvement of good practices by the psychologists who intervene with this type of population. The final section of the dissertation includes the material used during the investigation (Annex 3), the theory behind this research (Annex 1) and the evidence of the article submission in the journal "European Journal of Psychological Assessment" (Annex 2).