Mental disorder stigma among Scottish university students

Frempong, I. and Spence, W. (2019) Mental disorder stigma among Scottish university students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(6), pp. 861-868. (doi: 10.1080/0309877X.2017.1410531)

Abstract

Many studies have investigated university students’ attitudes to people with mental disorder (PMD) but most have used medical student participants. No Scottish studies were found on this topic where students of a broad range of subjects had participated. A mixed methods research design was employed where the topic was qualitatively explored (n = 3) prior to quantification of perspectives via questionnaire use (n = 642). Only 10.3% of questionnaire respondents agreed that PMD tended to be more violent than others and only 3.7% believed keeping PMD in psychiatric hospitals made the campus safer. Over 94% disagreed that PMD caused their problems, but 20.3% disagreed that PMD often improved with treatment. Almost 4% reported unwillingness to work on a class project with PMD. Science students were significantly more likely than arts students to view PMD as: violent, unpredictable, blameworthy for their condition, people who should be kept away from campus, causing them to feel unsafe. International students were more likely to ‘strongly agree’ than European Union (EU) students that PMD should be kept off the campus. EU students were more willing to work on a class project with PMD than international students were. Postgraduate students exhibited several more negative attitudes than undergraduates; being more likely to see PMD as violent and less likely to work on a class project with PMD. The need for mental disorder stigma related education among students at Scottish universities should be assessed.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Spence, Mr William
• Authors: Frempong, I., and Spence, W.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Public Health
• Journal Name: Journal of Further and Higher Education
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0309-877X
• ISSN (Online): 1469-9486
• Published Online: 21 December 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 UCU
• First Published: First published in Journal of Further and Higher Education 43(6):861-868
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher