IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v61y2015i2p137-147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students

Author

Listed:
  • Noor Ahmed Giasuddin
  • Itzhak Levav
  • Gilad Gal

Abstract

Background: The shortage of specialized human resources in mental health in Bangladesh requires active recruitment of psychiatric residents. In addition, the involvement of positively inclined health personnel, for example, medical doctors, emerges as an immediate priority. Aim: To explore stigma among medical students toward persons with mental disorders (PMDs) and their attitudes toward psychiatry. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Faridpur Medical College in Bangladesh before (First year) and following psychiatric rotation (Fifth year). Students ( N = 200) filled anonymous questionnaires measuring stigma toward PMDs and attitudes to psychiatry. Results: Upper medical school year ( p = .028), older age ( p = .005), mother’s lower academic level ( p = .043), upper and lower socioeconomic level affiliation ( p = .008) and self-consultation for mental or neurological complaints ( p = .032) were associated with increased stigma toward PMDs. More favorable attitudes toward psychiatry were found in upper medical school year ( p = .073) and were significantly associated with female gender ( p = .018) and middle socioeconomic level affiliation ( p = .013). Conclusion: The relative improvement in attitudes toward psychiatry in the upper medical school year is overshadowed by the increased stigma toward PMDs. Specific anti-stigma program in the curriculum and strategies to improve the attitudes are required.

Suggested Citation

  • Noor Ahmed Giasuddin & Itzhak Levav & Gilad Gal, 2015. "Mental health stigma and attitudes to psychiatry among Bangladeshi medical students," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(2), pages 137-147, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:61:y:2015:i:2:p:137-147
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764014537237
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764014537237
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764014537237?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. Pescosolido, B.A. & Medina, T.R. & Martin, J.K. & Long, J.S., 2013. "The "backbone" of stigma: Identifying the Global core of public prejudice associated with mental illness," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(5), pages 853-860.
    2. Marina Economou & Clive Richardson & Christina Gramandani & Anastassios Stalikas & Costas Stefanis, 2009. "Knowledge About Schizophrenia and Attitudes Towards People with Schizophrenia in Greece," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 55(4), pages 361-371, July.
    3. Rachel Jenkins & Robert Kydd & Paul Mullen & Kenneth Thomson & James Sculley & Susan Kuper & Joanna Carroll & Oye Gureje & Simon Hatcher & Sharon Brownie & Christopher Carroll & Sheila Hollins & Mai L, 2010. "International Migration of Doctors, and Its Impact on Availability of Psychiatrists in Low and Middle Income Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(2), pages 1-9, February.
    4. Schulze, Beate & Angermeyer, Matthias C., 2003. "Subjective experiences of stigma. A focus group study of schizophrenic patients, their relatives and mental health professionals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 299-312, January.
    5. Vanessa Pinfold & Peter Byrne & Hilary Toulmin, 2005. "Challenging Stigma and Discrimination in Communities: A Focus Group Study Identifying UK Mental Health Service Users’ Main Campaign Priorities," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(2), pages 128-138, June.
    6. Tabuchi, Takahiro & Fukuhara, Hiroyuki & Iso, Hiroyasu, 2012. "Geographically-based discrimination is a social determinant of mental health in a deprived or stigmatized area in Japan: A cross-sectional study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1015-1021.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cori L. Tergesen & Dristy Gurung & Saraswati Dhungana & Ajay Risal & Prem Basel & Dipesh Tamrakar & Archana Amatya & Lawrence P. Park & Brandon A. Kohrt, 2021. "Impact of Service User Video Presentations on Explicit and Implicit Stigma toward Mental Illness among Medical Students in Nepal: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Munjireen Sifat & Maisha Huq & Mirza Baig & Naima Tasnim & Kerry M. Green, 2023. "An Examination of Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Care, and Their Association with Depression, Stress, Suicidal Ideation, and Wellness in a Bangladeshi University Student Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-12, January.
    3. Miroslava Janoušková & Aneta Weissová & Tomáš Formánek & Jiří Pasz & Lucie Bankovská Motlová, 2017. "Mental illness stigma among medical students and teachers," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(8), pages 744-751, December.

    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. Erdinç Kalayci & İmran Uzunaslan & Şerif Uzunaslan, 2023. "Caregiver burden experiences of caregivers of patients with schizophrenia: A qualitative inquiry," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(3), pages 543-550, May.
    2. Athanassios Douzenis & Ioannis Michopoulos & Marina Economou & Emmanouil Rizos & Christos Christodoulou & Lefteris Lykouras, 2012. "Involuntary admission in Greece: A prospective national study of police involvement and client characteristics affecting emergency assessment," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(2), pages 172-177, March.
    3. Salih Tutun & Marina E. Johnson & Abdulaziz Ahmed & Abdullah Albizri & Sedat Irgil & Ilker Yesilkaya & Esma Nur Ucar & Tanalp Sengun & Antoine Harfouche, 2023. "An AI-based Decision Support System for Predicting Mental Health Disorders," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1261-1276, June.
    4. Kvaale, Erlend P. & Gottdiener, William H. & Haslam, Nick, 2013. "Biogenetic explanations and stigma: A meta-analytic review of associations among laypeople," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 95-103.
    5. Lotte Groth Jensen & Stina Lou & Jørgen Aagaard & Ulla Væggemose, 2017. "Community families: A qualitative study of families who volunteer to support persons with severe mental illness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(1), pages 33-39, February.
    6. Carlos Arturo Cassiani-Miranda & Adalberto Campo-Arias & Andrés Felipe Tirado-Otálvaro & Luz Adriana Botero-Tobón & Luz Dary Upegui-Arango & María Soledad Rodríguez-Verdugo & María Elena Botero-, 2021. "Stigmatisation associated with COVID-19 in the general Colombian population," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(6), pages 728-736, September.
    7. Valentina Vasile & Elena Bunduchi & Daniel Stefan & Calin-Adrian Comes & Razvan Vasile & Anamari-Beatrice Stefan, 2023. "Are We Facing a Radical Change in the Migration Behavior of Medical Graduates from Less Developed Countries? Demographic Profile vs. Social Push Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Sabrina Gabrielle Anjara & Chiara Bonetto & Poushali Ganguli & Diana Setiyawati & Yodi Mahendradhata & Bambang Hastha Yoga & Laksono Trisnantoro & Carol Brayne & Tine Van Bortel, 2019. "Can General Practitioners manage mental disorders in primary care? A partially randomised, pragmatic, cluster trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-26, November.
    9. Gracia Fellmeth & Emma Plugge & Mina Fazel & Prakaykaew Charunwattana & François Nosten & Raymond Fitzpatrick & Julie A Simpson & Rose McGready, 2018. "Validation of the Refugee Health Screener-15 for the assessment of perinatal depression among Karen and Burmese women on the Thai-Myanmar border," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Paloma Gónzalez-Gómez-del-Miño & Juan Felipe Espinosa-Cristia, 2021. "Recognizing New Trends in Brain Drain Studies in the Framework of Global Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-27, March.
    11. Anaïs Le Jeannic & Kathleen Turmaine & Coralie Gandré & Marie-Amélie Vinet & Morgane Michel & Karine Chevreul & on behalf of the PRINTEMPS Consortium, 2023. "Defining the Characteristics of an e-Health Tool for Suicide Primary Prevention in the General Population: The StopBlues Case in France," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Daniel Walsh & Juliet Foster, 2022. "Charting an Alternative Course for Mental Health-Related Anti-Stigma Social and Behaviour Change Programmes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-21, August.
    13. Lorenza Magliano & Antonella Strino & Rosanna Punzo & Roberta Acone & Gaetana Affuso & John Read, 2017. "Effects of the diagnostic label ‘schizophrenia’, actively used or passively accepted, on general practitioners’ views of this disorder," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(3), pages 224-234, May.
    14. Jing Ye & Timothy F Chen & Diane Paul & Rebecca McCahon & Sumitra Shankar & Alan Rosen & Claire L O’Reilly, 2016. "Stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with severe and persistent mental illness in assertive community treatment settings," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(6), pages 532-541, September.
    15. Lewis, Sophie & Thomas, Samantha L. & Blood, R. Warwick & Castle, David J. & Hyde, Jim & Komesaroff, Paul A., 2011. "How do obese individuals perceive and respond to the different types of obesity stigma that they encounter in their daily lives? A qualitative study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1349-1356.
    16. Victoria Vass & Katarzyna Sitko & Sophie West & Richard P. Bentall, 2017. "How stigma gets under the skin: the role of stigma, self-stigma and self-esteem in subjective recovery from psychosis," Psychosis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 235-244, July.
    17. Robert G. D. Macnee & Akihiro Tokai, 2016. "Heat wave vulnerability and exposure mapping for Osaka City, Japan," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 368-376, December.
    18. Steven Marwaha & Sonia Johnson, 2005. "Views and Experiences of Employment among People with Psychosis: A Qualitative Descriptive Study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(4), pages 302-316, December.
    19. McGinty, Emma E. & Goldman, Howard H. & Pescosolido, Bernice & Barry, Colleen L., 2015. "Portraying mental illness and drug addiction as treatable health conditions: Effects of a randomized experiment on stigma and discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 73-85.
    20. Heather Stuart, 2005. "Fighting Stigma and Discrimination Is Fighting for Mental Health," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 31(s1), pages 21-28, August.

    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:61:y:2015:i:2:p:137-147. 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.