[Attitudes towards family caregiving of people with dementia among the general public in Japan: scale development and validation].

AIM

To develop a scale for attitudes towards family caregiving of people with dementia among the general public in Japan.

METHODS

We conducted a postal self-administered questionnaire survey in a sample of the general population aged 20 and over: there were 2,161 (86%) valid responses. Question items in the survey included sociodemographic characteristics, attitude towards family caregiving for people with dementia, and the following three variables associated with dementia and caregiving: respondents' personal anxiety about developing dementia, their knowledge about the Long-Term Care insurance service, and their experiences of caregiving.

RESULTS

Factor analysis revealed the following four subscales within this scale: feelings of obligation towards family caregiving (F1), expected feelings of caregiving burden (F2), expectation of personal growth through family caregiving (F3), and negative attitudes towards family caregiving (F4). The Cronbach alpha coefficients for these four subscales ranged from 0.73 to 0.82. In addition, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with sociodemographic characteristics as covariates, showed significant relationships (1) between personal anxiety about developing dementia and both F1 and F2, (2) between personal experience of caregiving and F3, and (3) between each of the three variables associated with dementia and caregiving and F4.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study confirmed the reliability and validity for the scale of attitudes towards family caregiving of people with dementia among the general public in Japan.