The impact of aging stereotypes on dementia worry

Joie Molden () and Molly Maxfield
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Joie Molden: University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Molly Maxfield: University of Colorado Colorado Springs

European Journal of Ageing, 2017, vol. 14, issue 1, No 4, 29-37

Abstract: Abstract Dementia worry, an anxiety-related response to the possibility of developing dementia, represents an important yet underexplored health concern for an aging population. Such a construct is likely impacted by stereotypes concerning aging, including biased associations of aging with inevitable cognitive decline. The present article explores the impact of mixed positive and negative aging stereotype messages on levels of dementia worry. The Fear of Alzheimer’s Disease Scale (FADS) was used to measure impact of priming with different proportions of positive and negative aging stereotype words. The priming intervention was modeled after Levy (J Pers Soc Psychol 71:1092–1107, 1996, doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.71.6.1092 ). Eighty older adult participants (M age = 71.65, SD = 6.57) were exposed to mostly positive aging stereotype words, half positive/half negative words, mostly negative words, all negative words, or non-stereotype words. Mean FADS item response was significantly impacted by priming such that those in the all negative condition had highest levels of dementia worry, F(4, 75) = 2.48, p = .05, $$\eta_{p}^{2} = 0.12$$ η p 2 = 0.12 . This effect was strengthened when relevance of aging stereotypes was controlled for, p

Keywords: Dementia worry; Stereotypes; Older adults; Ageism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10433-016-0378-z

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