The Presence of Ageism Among Slovenian Adolescents Surveyed About Dementia-Related Knowledge

Objectives: Due to the significant increase in the number of people aged over 65, both dementia and ageism are on the rise in Slovenia. Without data on knowledge of dementia and the occurrence of ageism towards old people among adolescents, it is difficult to introduce measures to reduce and prevent them. Aim: To asses dementia-related knowledge with a focus on comparison between female and male adolescents and whether any stereotype about the elderly is expressed among them. Methods: 1128 students (aged 14 -19) from non-health related secondary schools in Slovenia completed the survey. In the questionnaire with twenty claims of dementia, one contained stereotype: »Impaired memory is normal part of getting old«. Results: Responses to claims of dementia ranged from 4 to 20 points, with participants responding to an average of 71.5% of claims correctly (M = 14.30; SD = 2.56). Girls showed better knowledge of dementia than boys (M = 14.63; SD = 2.36 vs. M = 13.63; SD = 2.82; p<0.05). Suprisingly, with the stereotypical and discriminatory claim: »Impaired memory is normal part of getting old« as many as 86.0 % of girls and 81.9 % of boys (p>0.05) agreed. Conclusions: Dementia-related knowledge is satisfactory, but lower in male than female adolescents. The research results point to the need of introducing gender-specific formal and non-formal education on dementia. Furthermore, the results of our study show that most adolescents of both genders already think stereotypically about the elderlies, which can lead to ageism. The area should be researched further.