Impact of dementia care courses on nursing students' filial piety and attitudes towards caring for family members with dementia: a cross-sectional questionnaire survey

• Dementia courses enhanced care knowledge and shifted filial responsibilities views. • Understanding dementia promotes empathy and home care choice. • Enhanced disease knowledge improved attitudes toward older adults. • Standalone geriatric courses enhanced awareness and elder care participation. Asian social norms and declining birth rates have intensified eldercare burdens, making younger generations' attitudes crucial. To examine how dementia care education influences nursing students' filial piety and caregiving intentions. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 115 nursing students from Northern Taiwan between September 2023 and January 2024. The study used a demographic questionnaire, the Dual Filial Piety Scale, and the Filial Piety Scale. The intervention group showed significant increases in authoritarian filial piety toward fathers ( t = 3.042, p =.003) and mothers ( t = 2.386, p =.019). Between-group analyses revealed significant posttest differences in filial responsibility ( t = 2.172, p =.032). After controlling for institutional care preferences, the intervention significantly affected reciprocal filial piety for mothers ( B = 4.639, p =.014, 95% CI [0.948, 8.331]) and filial responsibility attitudes ( B = 9.654, p =.023, 95% CI [1.379, 17.928]). Dementia care education significantly enhanced nursing students' knowledge and transformed their caregiving and filial obligations perspectives.