==== Front
Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2696
igaa057.2696
Abstracts
Session 7015 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Gender Differences in How the American Public Reacts to a Person With Mild-Stage Dementia
Stites Shana 1 Largent Emily 1 Gill Jeanine 1 Johnson Rebecca 2 Harkins Kristin 1 Karlawish Jason 1 1 
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
2 
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”749 749
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Many studies show that caregivers for those with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) are disproportionately female, but few studies have investigated how public attitudes influence this gender disparity. We analyzed secondary data from an experimental study of public reactions to AD dementia. Analysis included 944 respondents who read a vignette about a man with mild stage dementia and completed a modified Family Stigma in Alzheimer’s Disease Scale (FS-ADS), which assesses 7 domains of stigma. Multivariable ordered logistic regression compared men and women on FS-ADS ratings. Women were less likely than men to endorse stronger negative aesthetic attributions (OR=0.75) and negative feelings (OR=0.76) and more likely to endorse stronger feelings of pity (OR=1.33; all p<0.05). No other differences were observed in FS-ADS domains (all p>0.05). The findings offer insights into relationships between gender and AD stigma, which may influence who is willing to become a caregiver for persons with AD and related dementias.