Comparisons of Dementia Knowledge and Attitudes among the Youth and Older Adults: Insights from the Construal Level Theory Perspective

Jianwei Wu, Sok-Man Leong, Sok-Leng Che, Iat-Kio Van and Yao-Chen Chuang
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Jianwei Wu: Nursing and Health Education Research Centre, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macao 999078, China
Sok-Man Leong: Research Management and Development Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macao 999078, China
Sok-Leng Che: Nursing and Health Education Research Centre, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macao 999078, China
Iat-Kio Van: Nursing and Health Education Research Centre, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macao 999078, China
Yao-Chen Chuang: Nursing and Health Education Research Centre, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macao 999078, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: Based on Construal Level Theory (CLT), the youth and older adults have different psychological distances towards dementia that may lead to different dementia knowledge and attitudes. A cross-sectional survey among 239 youth and 62 older adults using a two-step sampling approach in Macao aimed to examine the hypothesis. Results showed older adults had a higher score of dementia knowledge (F (1,299) = 45.692, p <0.001) but a lower score of dementia attitudes (F (1,299) = 161.887, p <0.001) compared to the youth. Age group explained the majority of the variances in the hierarchical multiple regressions for dementia knowledge (R 2 = 0.178, F = 9.059, p < 0.001) and for dementia attitudes (R 2 = 0.399, F = 24.233, p < 0.001), which are β = 0.47 and −0.56, respectively. Thus, the hypothesis was supported and revealed an interesting pattern of dementia knowledge and attitudes among the youth and older adults. From the CLT perspective, the study implies that reducing and bridging the psychological distance of dementia would probably be an effective strategy to increase dementia awareness among young people, and intergenerational programs may be a good option to increase community acceptance and support for people with dementia.

Keywords: dementia; knowledge; attitudes; youth; older adults; Construal Level Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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