Attitudes of Medical Students in Malta Toward Psychiatry and Mental Illness

Borg, Nicole; Testa, Louisa; Sammut, Fiona; Cassar, David

doi:10.1007/s40596-020-01304-y

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The present results are consistent with earlier reports, in which males revealed a substantially higher degree of stigmatization attitudes than females ( 12 , 15 , 16 , 28 ). This might be connected to the fact that males more often perceive mental illness to be a weakness of a personality than women, who tend to associate the presence of mental illness with traumatic events experienced previously in life ( 29 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In this present study, both respondents who had histories of mental health issues and those who had relatives suffering from mental health problems showed substantially lower MICA-2 scores than those who did not. These outcomes are consistent with previous studies indicating that specific experience of mental disorders lowers the stigmatization of mental health problems ( 12 , 16 , 17 , 22 – 24 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The USA, most European countries, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand already satisfy this condition. Nevertheless, there are nations in Africa and Asia where this percentage is just 0.2 per 10,000 citizens, and there are countries with no psychiatric services at all ( 16 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been shown that medical students consider psychiatry to be the least respected expertise in terms of further professional development ( 4 , 16 ). Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement techniques aimed at getting medical students interested in psychiatry, specifically to meet the needs of the healthcare system ( 3 , 4 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondary goals were to examine how the socio-demographics of the student sample affected stigmatization, and how completing a training course in psychiatry could change these stigmatizing attitudes. Based on previous reports indicating the significant prevalence of the phenomenon of stigmatization both in the general population and among medical students, especially among men, the following research hypotheses were formulated ( 10 , 16 ): (1) Stigmatization is a common attitude amongst medical students. (2) Female students show more favorable attitudes toward psychiatric patients than do male students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students—A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries

et al. 2021

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Background: According to epidemiological data, over 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, presenting one of the major challenges of modern medicine. In their everyday lives, patients, in addition to fighting the disease itself, often struggle with stigmatization. This phenomenon negatively affects both the diagnostic and therapeutic processes, as well as the patients' everyday functioning. This study aimed to assess stigma attitudes toward psychiatry and psychiatric patients among undergraduate medical students.Methods: This study used a Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), which included the standardized items from the Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA-2) scale to evaluate stigma. The study was disseminated via the internet to students from medical universities from 65 countries worldwide. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The study involved 1,216 students from these 65 countries. Most of the sample were women, and most were medical faculty students and students living in cities with more than 500,000 residents. Taking into consideration Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and Human Development Index (HDI) variables, it can be seen that there was a prevalence of medical students from highly developed countries.Results: For the whole sample, the mean MICA-2 score was 40.5 points. Women and medical and nursing students showed more positive attitudes toward psychiatric patients. Students from countries with the highest economic development levels also achieved statistically lower MICA-2 scores. Lower score means a more positive attitude.Conclusion: Stigma toward both psychiatry and psychiatric patients is common among undergraduate medical students. Female students and respondents with a history of mental disorders in countries with high HDI and GDP per capita indices show more favorable attitudes than other medical students. There is a need to further our understanding of the problem of stigmatization, both among the general population and among medical personnel, and to implement and maintain appropriate measures to reduce stigma toward psychiatry.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students—A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries

et al. 2021

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Attitudes of ambulance service staff towards people with mental illness: A cross-sectional survey in the Verona province, Italy

Lasalvia,

D'agnalo Vallan,

Bodini

et al. 2025

Psychiatry Research

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Mental illness attitudes in medical education: Assessing the stigma in medical students

2023

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Introduction. Factors affecting the quality of physician care include a shortage of trained staff, stigma, and discrimination. Objective. The objective was to compare the intensity of stigmatization before and after a Psychiatry course, as measured by the scale of clinicians’ attitudes towards mental illness, a version for medical students (MICA-2) designed to identify stigmatic attitudes towards mental disorders. Method. The fifth-year Medicine students enrolled in the Psychiatry course answered anonymously using the MICA-2 test at the start and the end of their course. Additionally, we asked the students to answer a question about their interest in learning more about mental illness. Results. Three hundred and thirty students were invited; 300 agreed to participate in the first application of the scales, and 291 in the follow-up. The average age was 22 ± 2 years, with a range of 20-30 years, and there was a similar gender distribution in both applications. In the initial application, the average score of the MICA-2 was 41.34 (SD = 7.86, 95% CI = [40.43, 42.25]). The follow-up application’s mean was 37.10 (SD = 8.15, 95% CI = [36.30, 38.15]). Also, there was a decrease in interest in learning more about mental illness. Discussion and conclusion. A reduction in the average scores of the MICA-2 was observed after a Psychiatry course, suggesting that attitudes toward mental disorders improved. A Psychiatry clerkship with close supervision modified the attitudes of medical students toward mental disorders. However, it did not increase their interest in learning more about mental illness.

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Attitudes of Medical Students in Malta Toward Psychiatry and Mental Illness

Cited by 5 publications

References 17 publications

Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students—A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries

Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students—A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries

Attitudes of ambulance service staff towards people with mental illness: A cross-sectional survey in the Verona province, Italy

Mental illness attitudes in medical education: Assessing the stigma in medical students

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