ORCID

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Objectives: Raising awareness of dementia in the general public is a key dementia policy. Adolescents are one population whose levels of dementia knowledge we have little understanding about. In this cross-sectional survey study, we aimed to capture the level of dementia knowledge in adolescents from different socio-demographic groups and to explore the factors associated with adolescents’ dementia knowledge. Method: We recruited 1,371 adolescents aged 11-18 years across England. Adoeslescents were asked to complete a survey that included dementia knowledge items from the The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey. Descriptive statistics, a logistic regression, and cross-tabulations were used to explore adolescents’ level of dementia knowledge in various demographic groups (e.g. ethnicity, religion, sex, age). Results: Adolescents were able to answer just under half the knowledge items correctly (mean = 48%). Only 30% (n = 411) of participants correctly identified that dementia is not a mental illness and just over half of the adolescents (53%, n = 725) thought that dementia is not a normal part of ageing. While we observed some demographic differences, the level of knowledge across various groups did not significantly differ (p-values >.05). Conclusions: Overall, the presence of widespread misconceptions among adolescents, combined with the lack of demographic variation, indicates that universal dementia education and awareness campaigns may be required to effectively address these misunderstandings.

Publication Date

2026-03-30

Publication Title

Aging and Mental Health

Volume

30

Issue

9

ISSN

1360-7863

Acceptance Date

2026-03-11

Deposit Date

2026-04-13

Funding

This research is supported by the Alzheimer’s Society [grant number: 545]. The funder had no direct input into the formulation and creation of this analysis. Dr Farina and his independent research is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Keywords

Dementia knowledge, England, schools, students

First Page

2209

Last Page

2216

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