IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v60y2014i1p21-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Positive attitudes towards psychiatry among Chinese medical students

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua A Williams
  • Ni Liu
  • Khalid Afzal
  • Brian Cooper
  • Renslow Sherer
  • Ivy Morgan
  • Hongmei Dong

Abstract

Background and aims: Increasingly positive attitudes have been reported among young people in China towards mental illness, but little is known about Chinese medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry, psychiatric services and patients. Methods: We administered a bilingual survey to Wuhan University medical students in the final years of their clinical training. Primary outcomes were composite scores on a 21-item attitudes toward psychiatry (ATP) survey and the number of correct responses to diagnostic questions following a series of three clinical case vignettes. Results: Mean composite score on the ATP items was 78/105 (SD = 9.6), representing overall positive attitudes among the students. Female gender and having learned about more psychiatric disorders were positively associated with a higher mean ATP score and remained so after adjustment for relevant covariates. Conclusions: Chinese medical students reported positive attitudes towards psychiatry, openness with regard to psychiatric services, and respect for psychiatric patients. Learning about a broad spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses and greater clinical contact with patients may improve overall attitudes of Chinese medical students towards psychiatry and their ability to make accurate diagnoses.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua A Williams & Ni Liu & Khalid Afzal & Brian Cooper & Renslow Sherer & Ivy Morgan & Hongmei Dong, 2014. "Positive attitudes towards psychiatry among Chinese medical students," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(1), pages 21-29, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:60:y:2014:i:1:p:21-29
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764012467259
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764012467259
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764012467259?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. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-Yan Mak & Po-Kin Chung & David Chan & Kimmy Ho, 1996. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(3), pages 213-219, September.
    2. Matthias C. Angermeyer & Herbert Matschinger & Anita Holzinger, 1998. "Gender and Attitudes Towards People With Schizophrenia. Results of a Representative Survey in the Federal Republic of Germany," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 44(2), pages 107-116, June.
    3. David Cyranoski, 2010. "China tackles surge in mental illness," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7321), pages 145-145, November.
    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. K.F. Chung & Eric Y.H. Chen & Catherine S.M. Liu, 2001. "University Students' Attitudes Towards Mental Patients and Psychiatric Treatment," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 47(2), pages 63-72, June.
    2. Adrian Furnham, 2009. "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Literacy: Attitudes To, and Knowledge of, Psychotherapy," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 55(6), pages 525-537, November.
    3. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-yan Mak, 1998. "Attitudes To Mental Patients Among Hong Kong Chinese: a Trend Study Over Two Years," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 44(3), pages 215-224, September.
    4. Adrian Furnham & Masako Murao, 2000. "A Cross-Cultural Comparison of British and Japanese Lay Theories of Schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 46(1), pages 4-20, March.
    5. repec:ibn:ijpsnl:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:95 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. 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.
    7. Luca Pingani & Sara Evans-Lacko & Sandra Coriani & Silvia Ferrari & Maria Filosa & Gian Maria Galeazzi & Mattia Lorenzini & Tommaso Manari & Alessandro Musetti & Anna Maria Nasi & Christian Franceschi, 2021. "Time Waits for No One: Longitudinal Study on the Effects of an Anti-Stigma Seminar on the Psychology Student Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-16, May.
    8. 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.
    9. Petrus Ng & Kai-Fong Chan, 2000. "Sex Differences in Opinion Towards Mental Illness of Secondary School Students in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 46(2), pages 79-88, June.
    10. Marcus Y.L. Chiu & Kenneth K.L. Chan, 2007. "Community Attitudes Towards Discriminatory Practice Against People with Severe Mental Illness in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(2), pages 159-174, March.

    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:60:y:2014:i:1:p:21-29. 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.