Dementia Worry as a Behavioral Health Construct in Older Adults: Associations with Stigma and Subjective Memory Complaints and Turkish Validation of the Modified Dementia Worry Scale

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to culturally adapt the Modified Dementia Worry Scale (MDWS) into Turkish, and to examine dementia worry within a broader behavioral health framework in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A total of 242 cognitively healthy adults aged ≥ 60 years were included. Construct validity was examined through convergent, known-groups, and incremental validity approaches. Structural validity was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. Multivariable and hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations with subjective memory complaints, perceived stigma, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The Turkish MDWS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.93) and high test - retest reliability (ICC = 0.895). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure. Dementia worry was strongly associated with subjective memory complaints and moderately associated with perceived stigma and anxiety, while showing no significant association with age or depressive symptoms in adjusted models. Dementia-specific psychosocial variables explained substantial additional variance beyond general emotional distress. CONCLUSIONS: The MDWS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing dementia worry in community-dwelling older adults. Findings support dementia worry as a distinct behavioral health construct, shaped primarily by subjective cognitive appraisal and stigma-related processes rather than objective aging or depressive symptomatology.