Award Date

1-1-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Karen Kemtes

Number of Pages

106

Abstract

It is projected that by the year 2050, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will rise to approximately 13.2 million. And, because AD is on the rise, apprehension about developing the degenerative disease (anticipatory dementia or fear of developing AD) has become a topic of study in the past few years. However, most studies focusing on anticipatory dementia have used a sample of individuals younger than age 65 and have used a single item questionnaire to explore their apprehension. The current study utilized 50 adults ages 65 and older to examine anticipatory dementia and its relationship with subjective and objective memory, family history, and knowledge of AD. Fear of developing AD was assessed using a new 30-item, psychometrically sound instrument titled the Fear of Alzheimer's Disease Scale (FADS). Results of the study revealed that: (1) in-line with existing research, subjective memory complaints was positively associated with fear of developing AD, (2) family history, knowledge of AD, and objective memory were not significantly correlated with fear of developing AD, (3) subjective memory was the only significant predictor of fear of developing AD; neither family history, knowledge of AD, nor objective memory predicted fear of developing the disease, (4) knowledge of AD was not associated with anxiety, (5) there was no significant relationship between subjective and objective memory, and (6) the relationship between subjective memory and fear of developing AD was still significant after controlling for participants' negative mood.

Keywords

Adults; Alzheimer; Alzheimer's Disease; Anticipatory Dementia; Anticipatory Dementia Developing; Frea Of Developing Alzheimer's Disease; Family History; Knowledge Of Alzheimer's Disease; Memory; Objective; Objective Memory; Older Adults; Older Adults Subjective; Subjective Memory

Controlled Subject

Clinical psychology; Cognitive psychology; Gerontology

File Format

pdf

File Size

2508.8 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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