Causal Attributions of Dementia Among Korean American Immigrants |
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| Authors: | Sang E Lee Sadhna Diwan Gwen Yeo |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Social Work, San Jose State University , San Jose, California, USA sangl@casa.sjsu.edu;3. School of Social Work, San Jose State University , San Jose, California, USA;4. Stanford Geriatric Education Center, School of Medicine, Stanford University , Stanford, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | To better understand conceptualizations of dementia, this study explored causal attributions of dementia among 209 Korean Americans, using a self-administered questionnaire in Korean. Findings show that Korean Americans endorsed various causal attributions. Factor analysis yielded 3 dimensions of their attributions including psychological, physical/environmental, and cognitive/social. Bivariate analyses showed that younger age and higher education were related to more physical/environmental attributions, and younger age was related to more cognitive/social attributions. The study provides an understanding of causal attributions of dementia that practitioners need to understand to provide culturally competent practice and highlights a need to customize public education messages by specific ethnic groups. |
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| Keywords: | Dementia causal attributions Korean Americans culture explanatory model |
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