This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Read, J. Articles by Law, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Read, J. Articles by Law, A. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Mental Health Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Relationship of Causal Beliefs and Contact With Users of Mental Health Services To Attitudes To the 'Mentally Ill'

Psychology Department, The University of Auckland

Alan Law

Psychology Department, The University of Auckland

Programmes to destigmatise 'mental illness' have traditionally been based on the 'mental illness is an illness like any other' metaphor and have been largely unsuccessful. By measuring attitudes towards, and etiology beliefs about, 'mental illness' before and after a series of four undergraduate lectures presenting the psychosocial causes of, and solutions to, severe mental health problems, this study (a) replicated previous studies demonstrating a relationship between biogenetic causal beliefs and negative attitudes towards 'mental patients'; (b) found that following the lectures attitudes improved, particularly around the key variables of dangerousness and unpredictability; and (c) demonstrated that amount of contact with people who had received psychiatric treatment was an even stronger predictor of positive attitudes than acceptance of a psychosocial perspective.

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 45, No. 3, 216-229 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/002076409904500309


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Coleman, J. S. Walker, J. Lee, B. J. Friesen, and P. N. Squire Children's Beliefs About Causes of Childhood Depression and ADHD: A Study of Stigmatization Psychiatr Serv, July 1, 2009; 60(7): 950 - 957. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. S. Aghanwa Attitude Toward and Knowledge about Mental Illness in Fiji Islands International Journal of Social Psychiatry, December 1, 2004; 50(4): 361 - 375. [Abstract] [PDF]