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The development and validation of the adolescent level of contact with dementia scale
Author(s) -
Parveen Sahdia,
Griffiths Alys Wyn,
Fariicolas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.5335
Subject(s) - dementia , discriminant validity , psychology , scale (ratio) , internal consistency , stigma (botany) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychometrics , gerontology , medicine , geography , cartography , disease , pathology
Objectives As the number of people living with dementia increases, reducing stigma has become a policy priority. One way of decreasing stigma is through contact with the stigmatised group. However, the impact of this is difficult to establish due to a lack of validated measures suitable for adolescents. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a level of contact questionnaire designed to assess adolescents' contact with people living with dementia. Methods Participants were recruited from five schools in two studies (N = 446 and N = 488) and completed the preliminary 11‐item version of the adolescent level of contact of dementia (ALoCD). Results Study 1 explored the factor structure of the ALoCD, revealing two factors ‘direct contact’ and ‘indirect contact’. Study 2 confirmed the structure of the ALoCD and tested for discriminant validity. These two studies resulted in a 9‐item scale that showed adequate internal consistency ( α = .89, α = .62) and discriminant validity between those who did and did not live with a person with dementia. Conclusion The development of this scale enables assessment of direct (eg, living with a person with dementia) and indirect (watching a TV show about dementia) contact with dementia, and the extent of this contact. This initial validation suggests a psychometrically sound scale but further research should be undertaken to fully explore the properties of the scale.