title: Anticipatory dementia: a link between memory appraisals and concerns about developing Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: This exploratory study examines the link between memory appraisals and personal concerns about developing Alzheimer's disease. The sample of persons ages 40-60 includes adult children with a living parent who has Alzheimer's disease (N = 25) and a matched group with no family history of dementia (N = 25). Using two composite measures of memory appraisals, the results show significant bivariate and multivariate relationships between self-assessments of memory functioning and concerns about developing the disease. The findings also suggest that negative memory appraisals evoke concerns about developing Alzheimer's disease within both of the subsamples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Hodgson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis