Measurement of the will to live in older adults: Transcultural adaptation, validity and reliability of the Will-to-Live Scale

Abstract

Objective: The Will-to-Live Scale (WTLS) is used to measure the will to live in older adults; however, there is no Spanish version. The objective of the study was to translate the WTLS into Spanish, assess its internal structure, reliability, and the correlates between WTLS and life satisfaction, resilience, and depression in older Peruvian adults.

Method: The participants were 235 Peruvian older adults (M=72.69, SD=6.68), evaluated between March to May 2019, selected through non-probability sampling. The WTLS, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) were administered. Data analysis included reliability by internal consistency and structural equation models, specifically confirmatory factor analysis (AFC), to test the one-dimensional solution of the WTLS and the convergent validity of the WTLS at the latent level, by specifying a four-factor model (will to live, life satisfaction, resilience and depression).

Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the composite reliability index obtain values of .93 and .94, respectively. The one-dimensional structure of the WTLS was fitted to the data (χ²₍₅₎=10,067, P=.073, CFI=.999, RMSEA=.066, SRMR=.014) and showed positive associations with the SWLS (ρ=.82), and BRCS (ρ=.86), as well as negative associations with the PHQ-2 (ρ=-.66).

Conclusion: The WTLS in Spanish presents evidence of validity and reliability to measure the will to live in Peruvian older adults.

Keywords: Adulto mayor; Confiabilidad; Older adult; Reliability; Test validity; Validez del test; Voluntad de vivir; Will to live.