Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Form of the Will-to-Live Scale in Older Adults

Abstract: The Will-to-Live (WTL) scale measures desire for life and life commitment across populations. However, psychometric evidence for a Turkish older adult WTL screening model is lacking. In this study, the WTL was first translated into Turkish using established procedures, followed by the collection of psychometric information on the Turkish form (WTL-T). Included in the study were community-dwelling older adults (aged 65–85 years) who could be considered representative of the older adult Turkish population, who were asked to complete the WTL scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Brief Resilient Coping Scale, as well as a single-item WTL and self-rated health. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated an acceptable model fit of the WTL-T, yielding a single-factor model that explained 66.45% of the variance. Furthermore, the WTL-T was found to have high internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.865) and convergent validity was demonstrated by the strong positive correlations identified through the single-item WTL question (r = 0.810, p < 0.001). The moderate to high correlations of the scale with theoretically related measures supported its concurrent validity (r = –0.299 to 0.742, all p’s < 0.01). The evidence presented in the present study identifies the WTL-T as a concise, appropriate and psychometrically sound instrument for the assessment of WTL in older adults living in Turkey.