Abstract Background Since treatment options for curing dementia are unavailable to date, prevention of dementia is the key in decreasing the burden of dementia for patients, their families, and caregivers, as well as societies as a whole. Around one third of all dementia cases worldwide is estimated to be attributable to nine modifiable risk factors (Livingston et al., 2017). Although behavioural change is crucial for dementia risk reduction, changing health behaviour is complex. Currently, no valid scale exists to measure attitudes and beliefs towards lifestyle change for dementia risk reduction in the Netherlands. This study aims to validate the Motivation to Change Lifestyle and Health Behaviors for Dementia Risk Reduction (MCLHB‐DRR) scale (Kim et al., 2014) in the Dutch general population. Method Translation and back‐translation of the MCLHB‐DRR scale (7 factors, 27 items) was performed to establish a well‐translated Dutch version of the questionnaire. Data were collected by an online survey ‘ Lifestyle and dementia ’ among a random sample of 4500 residents of the municipality of Groningen (the Netherlands) aged between 30 and 80 years. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA and CFA) were conducted to assess construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to assess internal consistency. Result Results of the EFA (N = 618) pointed towards a seven‐factor solution with a nearly perfectly clean factor structure. Deletion of four problematic items resulted in a clean factor structure. Fit indices from CFA after deleting these four items indicated an excellent model fit (RMSEA = 0.043, CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.951, χ²/df = 2.130). Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.69 to 0.93, indicating good internal consistency. Conclusion The Dutch version of the MCLHB‐DRR scale (7 factors, 23 items) is a valid instrument to assess the attitudes and beliefs towards lifestyle and health behavioural changes for dementia risk reduction in the Dutch general population aged between 30 and 80 years old. Before the MCLHB‐DRR ...