PURPOSE: This study explored medical students' causal explanations and views of schizophrenia, and whether they changed during medical education. METHOD: The survey was carried out on medical students of the Second University of Naples, Italy, who attended their first-year and their fifth- or sixth-year of lessons. The 381 who accepted were asked to read a case-vignette describing a person who met the ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia and then fill in the Opinions on mental illness Questionnaire. RESULTS: The most frequently cited causes were psychological traumas (60%) and stress (56%), followed by misuse of street drugs (47%), and heredity (42%). 28% of students stated that persons with the disorder could be well again, and 28% that they were unpredictable. Labeling the case as "schizophrenia" and naming heredity among the causes were associated with pessimism about recovery and higher perception of social distance. First-year students more frequently reported psychological traumas among the causes (76 vs. 45%), and less frequently heredity (35 vs. 81%) and stress (42 vs. 69%), and they perceived less social distance from the "schizophrenics" than fifth/sixth-year students. In particular, 18% percent of first-year versus 38% of fifth/sixth-year students believed that these persons were kept at a distance by the other, and 45 versus 57% felt frightened by persons with the condition. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a need to include education on stigma and recovery in schizophrenia in the training of medical students.
PURPOSE: This study explored medical students' causal explanations and views of schizophrenia, and whether they changed during medical education. METHOD: The survey was carried out on medical students of the Second University of Naples, Italy, who attended their first-year and their fifth- or sixth-year of lessons. The 381 who accepted were asked to read a case-vignette describing a person who met the ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia and then fill in the Opinions on mental illness Questionnaire. RESULTS: The most frequently cited causes were psychological traumas (60%) and stress (56%), followed by misuse of street drugs (47%), and heredity (42%). 28% of students stated that persons with the disorder could be well again, and 28% that they were unpredictable. Labeling the case as "schizophrenia" and naming heredity among the causes were associated with pessimism about recovery and higher perception of social distance. First-year students more frequently reported psychological traumas among the causes (76 vs. 45%), and less frequently heredity (35 vs. 81%) and stress (42 vs. 69%), and they perceived less social distance from the "schizophrenics" than fifth/sixth-year students. In particular, 18% percent of first-year versus 38% of fifth/sixth-year students believed that these persons were kept at a distance by the other, and 45 versus 57% felt frightened by persons with the condition. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a need to include education on stigma and recovery in schizophrenia in the training of medical students.
Authors: Lorenza Magliano; John Read; Angela Rinaldi; Regina Costanzo; Renata De Leo; Giustina Schioppa; Miriam Petrillo Journal: Community Ment Health J Date: 2015-06-17
Authors: Mimosa Luigi; Filippo Rapisarda; Marc Corbière; Luigi De Benedictis; Anne-Marie Bouchard; Amélie Felx; Massimo Miglioretti; Amal Abdel-Baki; Alain Lesage Journal: Can Med Educ J Date: 2020-09-23
Authors: Aiste Pranckeviciene; Kristina Zardeckaite-Matulaitiene; Rasa Marksaityte; Aukse Endriulaitiene; Douglas R Tillman; David D Hof Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2018-02-16 Impact factor: 4.328