Stigma of mental illness among students

BACKGROUND:Social stigma connected to mental illness is a societal problem for which we lack data, especially among children and teenagers. OBJECTIVES:The purpose of this study was to assess how adolescents stigmatize mental illness in peers and to investigate if stigmatizing attitudes differed as a function of other variables (e. g. age, gender, level of education). MATERIALS AND METHODS:A German translation of the Revised Attribution Questionnaire (r-AQ), a nine-item survey, was administered to 246 pupils between 14 and 16 years of age, who were recruited from seven German schools. RESULTS:The pupils investigated in the study scored in the non-stigmatizing range of the questionnaire. Demographic factors did not have a significant effect on their stigmatizing attitude. CONCLUSIONS:The low stigmatizing tendencies can be explained by existing contact with the mentally ill or by possible effects of recruitment. Future research should take knowledge about mental illness as a possible factor influencing stigmatizing attitudes into account.