Nursing undergraduates' ageism and attitudes toward dementia: Serial multiple mediating effects of person-centered care and compassion - A cross-sectional survey.

Background: Although ageism has a strong relationship with attitudes toward dementia, no study has confirmed how person-centered care and compassion mediate the relationship between nursing students' ageism and attitudes toward dementia.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of person-centered care competency and compassion competency on ageism and attitudes toward dementia among nursing undergraduates.

Participants: Participants were 295 undergraduate nursing students from four universities.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted, involving the selection of four Korean nursing schools for the study. Data was obtained via an online survey conducted from March to July 2022. Data were analyzed with Pearson's correlations, and multi-mediating effects using the PROCESS Macro for software, utilizing bootstrap techniques.

Results: Attitudes toward dementia was correlated with ageism (r = -0.386,  < 0.001), person-centered care (r = 0.422 < 0.001), and compassion competency (r = 0.457,  < 0.001). The total effect (β = -0.326,  < 0.001) and direct effect (β = -0.243,  < 0.001) of ageism on attitudes toward dementia were significant. Ageism does not have a direct effect on compassion competency (Std. estimate = -0.0213, CI: -0.0518∼0.0048). However, person-centered care and compassion competency had multiple serial mediating effects on the relationship between ageism and attitudes toward dementia (Std. estimate = -0.0357, CI: -0.0624∼-0.0145).

Conclusions: Person-centered care and compassion competency may mediate the association between ageism and attitudes toward dementia. Ageism was negatively associated with person-centered care and compassion competency, which in turn positively contributed to attitudes toward dementia. Therefore, an educational program that considers the interaction between generations and the context of older people must be applied to increase person-centered care and compassion competency.