IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v50y2004i4p361-375.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attitude Toward and Knowledge about Mental Illness in Fiji Islands

Author

Listed:
  • Henry Stephens Aghanwa

    (Acute Mental Health Unit, Toowoomba Base Hospital, haghanwa@yahoo.com, aghanwa@optusnet.com)

Abstract

Backgrounds: There is a dearth of information on the extent of knowledge about mental illness and attitudes toward the mentally ill in Fiji. Aims: This study aimed to explore these aspects, and also to determine the factors influencing them. Method: Market vendors, peri-urban dwellers, white-collar and health workers from Greater Suva were interviewed. The interview schedule used elicited socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of, and attitudes toward, mental illness. Results: A majority of the subjects attributed the cause of mental illness to substance abuse, believed in the diversity of mental illness, considered hospital as an important source of help and acknowledged the effectiveness of medication. Less than one-fifth of the subjects were willing to marry or employ mentally ill persons. About 42% of the sample would be deterred by embarrassment from seeking help. Educational attainment was correlated with knowledge about mental illness, except with knowledge about early mental symptoms ( p

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Stephens Aghanwa, 2004. "Attitude Toward and Knowledge about Mental Illness in Fiji Islands," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 50(4), pages 361-375, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:50:y:2004:i:4:p:361-375
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764004050336
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764004050336
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764004050336?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Read & Alan Law, 1999. "The Relationship of Causal Beliefs and Contact With Users of Mental Health Services To Attitudes To the 'Mentally Ill'," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(3), pages 216-229, September.
    2. Robert Sévigny & Yang Wenying & Zhang Peiyan & Jacques D. Marleau & Yang Zhouyun & Su Lin & Li GuowangUOWAN & Xu Dong & Wang Yanling & Wang Haijun, 1999. "Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill in a Sample of Professionals Working in a Psychiatric Hospital in Beijing (China)," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(1), pages 41-55, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pandey Vibha & Sahoo Saddichha & Ranjeet Kumar, 2008. "Attitudes of Ward Attendants Towards Mental Illness: Comparisons and Predictors," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 54(5), pages 469-478, September.
    2. Yang, Lawrence Hsin & Kleinman, Arthur, 2008. "'Face' and the embodiment of stigma in China: The cases of schizophrenia and AIDS," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 398-408, August.
    3. Ross M.G. Norman & Deborah Windell & Rahul Manchanda, 2012. "Examining differences in the stigma of depression and schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(1), pages 69-78, January.
    4. Li-Yu Song & Ly-Yun Chang & Chaiw-Yi Shih & Chih-Yuan Lin & Ming-Jeng Yang, 2005. "Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill: The Results of a National Survey of the Taiwanese Population," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(2), pages 162-176, June.
    5. Melissa Pyle & Alison Brabban & Laura Drage & Helen Spencer & Douglas Turkington & Anthony Morrison, 2015. "Associations between internalised stereotypes of psychosis and emotional dysfunction in people with psychosis not taking antipsychotic medication," Psychosis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 217-227, July.
    6. Sandra Dietrich & Herbert Matschinger & Matthias C. Angermeyer, 2006. "The Relationship between Biogenetic Causal Explanations and Social Distance toward People with Mental Disorders: Results from a Population Survey in Germany," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 52(2), pages 166-174, March.
    7. Veronika Simeonova Dimitrova & Boyan Zahariev & Maria Martinova, 2023. "Attitudes toward people with mental disorders in Bulgaria," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(3), pages 613-625, May.
    8. Christoph Lauber & Carlos Nordt & Luis Falcato & Wulf Rössler, 2002. "Determinants of Attitude to Volunteering in Psychiatry: Results of a Public Opinion Survey in Switzerland," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(3), pages 209-219, September.
    9. Samir Al-Adawi & Atsu S.S. Dorvlo & Suad S. Al-Ismaily & Dalal A. Al-Ghafry & Balquis Z. Al-Noobi & Ahmed Al-Salmi & David T. Burke & Mrugeshkumar K. Shah & Harith Ghassany & Suma P. Chand, 2002. "Perception of and Attitude towards Mental Illness in Oman," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 305-317, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:50:y:2004:i:4:p:361-375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.