Measuring music engagement in older adults: the UNE music in aging wellness scale (MAWS).

Objectives: Engagement with music (i.e. listening, moving to the beat, joining in, performance) is documented to enhance cognition, mood, socialization, and a host of other wellness indicators in advancing age. A number of comprehensive scales measure this engagement, but a brief, accessible scale designed for general use with older adults is lacking. This project was undertaken to create and offer preliminary validation of the 7-item Music in Aging Wellness Scale (MAWS).

Method: Seven items reflecting aspects of music engagement (ME) were developed by expert opinion (e.g. 'I always tap my foot or sway my body to good music') for completion on a 1-7, strongly disagree to strongly agree, Likert scale. These were subject to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) ( = 349 cases) along with a set of six experimental items on ageism. It was hypothesized these items would cluster by content, thus showing separation into distinct factors.

Results: This was achieved and the resulting measure showed sound internal consistency (0.82), split-half reliability (0.71), and one-year test-retest (0.83). The MAWS total score was found to correlate significantly in expected directions with common gerontological measures. High scorers reported less depression, more mastery, less loneliness, and larger social networks. No association was found for worry-based anxiety and self-reported cognitive decline.

Conclusion: This preliminary reliability and validity study suggests that the MAWS may be an appropriate outcome and tracking measure for older adults involved in music-wellness interventions. Future research will further validate MAWS characteristics and associations with other established measures in this important field.