Development and Psychometric Validation of the Dementia Attitudes Scale

Abstract

This study employed qualitative construct mapping and factor analysis to construct a scale to measure attitudes toward dementia. Five family caregivers, five professionals, and five college students participated in structured interviews. Qualitative analysis of the interviews led to a 46-item scale, which was reduced to 20 items following principal axis factoring with two different samples: college students (N = 302) and certified nursing assistant students (N = 145). Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted with another sample of college students (N = 157). The final scale, titled the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS), essentially had a two-factor structure; the factors were labeled “dementia knowledge” and “social comfort.” Total-scale Cronbach's alphas ranged 0.83–0.85. Evidence for convergent validity was promising, as the DAS correlated significantly with scales that measured ageism and attitudes toward disabilities (range of correlations = 0.44–0.55; mean correlation = 0.50). These findings demonstrate the reliability and validity of the DAS, supporting its use as a research tool.

Knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate nursing students toward dementia: An Indian perspective

“…13 This instrument consists of 20 items with 7-point Likert scale that ranged from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree' to reveal nursing students' attitudes toward dementia in two sub-domains namely "dementia knowledge' ( items 3,7,10,11,12,14,15,18,19,20) and "social comfort" (items 1,2,4,5,6,8,9,13,16,17) with good psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha 0.83-0.85). Points ranging from 1 to 7 were given to each response such that the more positive the response, the higher the score.…”

Validation of Croatian Version of Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS)

“…Moreover, negative attitudes toward patients suffering from dementia were linked to lower satisfaction with work (Moyle, Murfield, Griffiths & Venturato, 2011) and simultaneously with less effort and care toward patients (Brodaty, Draper & Low, 2003), and are in a negative correlation with Burnout-syndrome (Astrom, Nilsson, Norberg, Sandman & Winblad, 1991). Attitudes toward dementia were widely examined, and there are few questionnaires dealing with attitudes toward dementia, but none of them cover the entire construct (O'Connor & McFadden, 2010). Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ; Lintern, Woods & Phair, 2000) consists of statements about people with dementia and their care.…”

“…Dementia attitudes scale (DAS) was designed by O'Connor and McFadden (2010), based on three partite model of attitude: cognitive, behavioral and affective (Breckler, 1984). Creation of the scale consisted of four phases.…”

“…Attitudes toward dementia seem to be an important factor for adequate care of people with dementia, but there was no previous research on this topic in Croatia. The Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) developed by O'Connor and McFadden (2010), is a useful tool in research of attitudes toward dementia. The aim of the study was to translate the scale into the Croatian language and validate it on a Croatian sample.…”

Education Research: Changing medical student perceptions of dementia

“…Students completed the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) survey, 5,6 a 20-item questionnaire assessing perceptions of dementia, specifically comfort and knowledge. All students completed baseline surveys 2 weeks prior to their scheduled intervention.…”