Jess R Baker1, Lee-Fay Low2, Belinda Goodenough3, Yun-Hee Jeon4, Ruby S M Tsang5, Christine Bryden1, Karen Hutchinson6. 1. a Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, Liverpool Hospital , University of New South Wales , Liverpool , Australia. 2. b Ageing, Work & Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Sydney , Camperdown , Australia. 3. c Dementia Training Australia , University of Wollongong , Wollongong , Australia. 4. d Sydney Nursing School , University of Sydney , Camperdown , Australia. 5. e Dementia Collaborative Research Centre - Assessment and Better Care , School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia. 6. f Sydney Medical School, Hornsby Kur-Ring-Gai Hospital , University of Sydney , Hornsby , Australia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Children may have a foundational role in efforts to raise community awareness about dementia. There is some qualitative work with children with a relative with dementia, but little work into the insights of children as general citizens without affected family. One issue is an absence of measurement tools; thus the study aimed to design and pilot a psychometrically sound self-report measure of dementia attitudes for children. METHOD: Using a multi-staged scale development process, stakeholder and expert input informed a 52-item Kids Insight into Dementia Survey (KIDS). After a pretest of KIDS with 21 Australian schoolchildren aged 10-12 years, exploratory factor analysis and reliability and validity testing were run on a revised KIDS with data from 203 similar-aged schoolchildren. RESULTS: The KIDS was reduced from 52 to 14 items, and a three-factor solution identified: 'Personhood,' 'Stigma,' and 'Dementia Understanding.' A strong positive correlation with an adult measure of dementia attitudes (r = .76) and a moderate positive correlation with a child measure of attitudes towards older adults (r = .47) indicated good concurrent validity. Internal consistency of .83 indicated good reliability. CONCLUSION: Results support the use of KIDS as a tool to measure children's insight into dementia, and to evaluate dementia education initiatives targeting the youth.
OBJECTIVES:Children may have a foundational role in efforts to raise community awareness about dementia. There is some qualitative work with children with a relative with dementia, but little work into the insights of children as general citizens without affected family. One issue is an absence of measurement tools; thus the study aimed to design and pilot a psychometrically sound self-report measure of dementia attitudes for children. METHOD: Using a multi-staged scale development process, stakeholder and expert input informed a 52-item Kids Insight into Dementia Survey (KIDS). After a pretest of KIDS with 21 Australian schoolchildren aged 10-12 years, exploratory factor analysis and reliability and validity testing were run on a revised KIDS with data from 203 similar-aged schoolchildren. RESULTS: The KIDS was reduced from 52 to 14 items, and a three-factor solution identified: 'Personhood,' 'Stigma,' and 'Dementia Understanding.' A strong positive correlation with an adult measure of dementia attitudes (r = .76) and a moderate positive correlation with a child measure of attitudes towards older adults (r = .47) indicated good concurrent validity. Internal consistency of .83 indicated good reliability. CONCLUSION: Results support the use of KIDS as a tool to measure children's insight into dementia, and to evaluate dementia education initiatives targeting the youth.
Entities:
Keywords:
Dementia; attitudes; children; exploratory factor analysis; measure development
Authors: Ashleigh E Smith; Georgina L Kamm; Samantha Lai; Melissa J Hull; Jess R Baker; Rachel Milte; Julie Ratcliffe; Tobias Loetscher; Hannah A D Keage Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2020-07-03