TY - JOUR
T1 - Beliefs and attitudes among italian high school students toward people with severe mental disorders
AU - Serra, Marianna
AU - Lai, Alessandra
AU - Buizza, Chiara
AU - Pioli, Rosaria
AU - Preti, Antonio
AU - Masala, Carmelo
AU - Petretto, Donatella Rita
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - The negative attitudes surrounding mental disorders and their treatment are a major obstacle to the correct identification and treatment of emerging psychopathologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate mental health literacy in a large and representative sample of high school students in Italy, via a booklet containing several questionnaires delivered to 1032 teenagers. The items in the questionnaires probed knowledge about mental health and illness, stigmatization, stereotypes, behaviors, opinions, and attitudes. In general, the students had a reasonable knowledge of mental disorders and were able to distinguish these from somatic disorders. However, a large portion of the students nourished some misconceptions about mental disorders and was also rather skeptical about the effectiveness of treatment or the chance of recovery for people with severe mental disorders. Nevertheless, roughly half of the students reported being willing to provide help to someone with a mental disorder when in need. Poor mental health literacy is a major barrier to seeking help and receiving effective treatment. Young people are the ideal target of raising awareness and antistigma campaigns because they are at a higher risk for developing a psychopathology.
AB - The negative attitudes surrounding mental disorders and their treatment are a major obstacle to the correct identification and treatment of emerging psychopathologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate mental health literacy in a large and representative sample of high school students in Italy, via a booklet containing several questionnaires delivered to 1032 teenagers. The items in the questionnaires probed knowledge about mental health and illness, stigmatization, stereotypes, behaviors, opinions, and attitudes. In general, the students had a reasonable knowledge of mental disorders and were able to distinguish these from somatic disorders. However, a large portion of the students nourished some misconceptions about mental disorders and was also rather skeptical about the effectiveness of treatment or the chance of recovery for people with severe mental disorders. Nevertheless, roughly half of the students reported being willing to provide help to someone with a mental disorder when in need. Poor mental health literacy is a major barrier to seeking help and receiving effective treatment. Young people are the ideal target of raising awareness and antistigma campaigns because they are at a higher risk for developing a psychopathology.
KW - beliefs
KW - mental health literacy
KW - schizophrenia
KW - stigma
KW - violence
KW - Young people
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876348204&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84876348204&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/NMD.0b013e318288e27f
DO - 10.1097/NMD.0b013e318288e27f
M3 - Article
C2 - 23538976
AN - SCOPUS:84876348204
VL - 201
SP - 311
EP - 318
JO - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
JF - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
SN - 0022-3018
IS - 4
ER -