Dementia worry in ethnoracially diverse young adults

Dementia is the second most feared disease following cancer, and high rates of dementia worry (DW) have been reported in the United States. Personal exposure to dementia (e.g., having a family member with dementia) and subjective cognitive concerns (SCCs) are associated with DW. However, previous studies have focused mainly on older and predominantly non-Hispanic White samples. Nevertheless, personal exposure to dementia is not limited to older adults, and the nature and extent to which DW influences subjective and objective cognition in ethnoracially diverse young adults has not been adequately examined. The present study examined associations among personal exposure to dementia, DW, SCCs, and neuropsychological performance among ethnoracially diverse young adults. Young adults with personal exposure to dementia (M = 20.17, SD = 8.28, n = 48) reported significantly higher DW compared to those without personal exposure (M = 16.83, SD = 6.32, n = 70) (p = .013), and this was especially true for Hispanic/Latino young adults (p = .030). However, DW was not shown to influence SCCs or neuropsychological performance after accounting for depression and anxiety symptoms (ps>.05). Further investigation of associations among personal exposure to dementia, DW, SCCs, and neuropsychological performance in demographically diverse adults is imperative given current estimates and projections for mild cognitive impairment and dementia in our increasingly diversifying aging population.