• Older Men cohort
• Young Men cohort

Older Men cohort

A collection of variables related to mental health is available for this cohort. Table OM1 provides reference numbers for the psychological well-being scales and questions described in this section.

In four surveys, the Older Men gave responses to an abbreviated version of Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale (1966). This scale measures locus of control, with internal control referring to the perception of events as being under personal control and external control meaning that events are perceived as unrelated to one's own behavior. The abbreviated scale used in the first three administrations included the 11 items from the original 23-item Rotter scale that were the most general and oriented to the adult world of work. The modified scale has been shown to be highly correlated with the original 23-item scale (see Parnes et al. 1974, Appendix to Chapter VI). In 1981, this scale was further reduced to only four items.

Reducing the number of items from 23 to 11 would have resulted in an overall reduction in the range of scores. To avoid this situation, the response format was modified to four choices rather than the two in the original scale. The respondent was first read a pair of statements representing opposite views and asked which statement was closer to his own opinion. He then stated whether the chosen statement was much closer to his own view or only slightly closer. These answers were combined into one score along a 4-point scale in the data set. The total score was obtained by summing the values of all 11 items, resulting in a range of 11 to 44 (4 to 16 in 1981) in order of increasing external control.

A second scale used in multiple surveys is the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale (Bradburn, 1969). This measure of positive and negative feelings in the weeks before the interview provides an indication of the respondent's general psychological well-being. The 10 statements used in the Older Men questionnaires asked, for example, whether the respondent felt particularly excited or interested in something in the past few weeks, whether he was so restless he could not sit long in a chair, and whether he felt that things were going his way.

Two scales were used only in the 1990 survey. Addressed only to sample persons (Older Men respondents still living at the time of the interview), the first series used 10 items from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. This scale measures symptoms of depression and discriminates between clinically depressed individuals and others; it is highly correlated with other depression rating scales (see Radloff 1977; Ross and Mirowsky 1989). To provide researchers with an assessment of their cognitive functioning, both sample persons and widows responded to the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (Pfeiffer, 1975). This scale is scored by awarding respondents one point for each correct answer. A score of 2 or less signifies severe cognitive impairment, scores of 3-5 indicate moderate cognitive impairment, and scores of 6 or more indicate mild or no impairment. Pfeiffer cautions that some adjustments need to be made for race and educational level.

Finally, in 1976-90, respondents answered questions about their satisfaction with various aspects of their lives and with life in general. On a 4-point scale, respondents reported their happiness with their housing, the local area in which they lived, their health, their standard of living, and their leisure time activities.

Young Men cohort

In three surveys, Young Men respondents were administered an abbreviated version of Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale (1966). For additional information about the content of this scale, researchers should refer to the Older Men discussion above. The Young Men scale is constructed and scored in the same manner as the Older Men version. The reference numbers and years for the Rotter scale administration are as follows:

• 1968: R01377.-R01387., R01674. (total score)
• 1971: R03526.-R03536., R03898. (total score)
• 1976: R04921.-R04941. (total score not created)

References

Bradburn, Norman M. The Structure of Psychological Well-Being. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1969.

Parnes, Herbert S., Adams, Arvil V.; Andrisani, Paul J.; Kohen, Andrew I.; and Nestel, Gilbert. The Pre-Retirement Years: Five Years in the Work Lives of Middle-aged Men, Vol. 4. Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1974.

Pfeiffer, Eric, M.D. "A Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire for the Assessment of Organic Brain Deficit in Elderly Patients." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 23,10 (October 1975): 433-41.

Radloff, Lenore Sawyer. "The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population." Applied Psychological Measurement 1,3 (Summer 1977): 385-401.

Ross, Catherine E. and Mirowsky, John. "Explaining the Social Patterns of Depression: Control and Problem Solving--or Support and Talking?" Journal of Health and Social Behavior 30 (June 1989): 206-9.

Rotter, Julian B. "Generalized Expectancies for Internal vs. External Control of Reinforcements." Psychological Monographs 80,1 (1966): 1-28.