To better understand conceptualizations of dementia, this study explored causal attributions of dementia among 209 Korean Americans, using a self-administered questionnaire in Korean. Findings show that Korean Americans endorsed various causal attributions. Factor analysis yielded 3 dimensions of their attributions including psychological, physical/environmental, and cognitive/social. Bivariate analyses showed that younger age and higher education were related to more physical/environmental attributions, and younger age was related to more cognitive/social attributions. The study provides an understanding of causal attributions of dementia that practitioners need to understand to provide culturally competent practice and highlights a need to customize public education messages by specific ethnic groups. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Dementia culture Explanatory model Korean Americans Causal attributions

South Korea Republic of Korea psychological aspect Dementia human Health Behavior middle aged Aged ethnology Humans Asian Americans male Emigrants and Immigrants female Asian American Socioeconomic Factors environmental exposure socioeconomics cultural factor Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Article adult migration Cultural Characteristics attitude to health