Dementia as fixed or malleable: Development and validation of the dementia mindset scale

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Care professionals differ in how they experience and respond to dementia caregiving. To explain such differences, we developed a new measure: the Dementia Mindset Scale. This scale captures the extent to which care professionals view dementia as stable and fixed (akin to the biomedical perspective) or as flexible and malleable (akin to the person-centered approach). Research Design and Methods: We conducted four studies to develop the scale. We tested items for comprehensibility, assessed the scale's factorial structure and psychometric properties, and investigated its predictive validity for care professionals' well-being. Results: A new scale with a two-factor structure - distinguishing a malleable dementia mindset from a fixed dementia mindset - was developed. Results showed good convergent and divergent validity. Moreover, the dementia mindsets predicted aspects of job-related well-being in care professionals. Discussion and Implications: The scale allows for the assessment of individual differences in how care professionals see dementia. This insight can be used to improve interventions aimed at enhancing care professionals' well-being and quality of care.