Public Attitudes, Lay Theories and Mental Health Literacy: The Understanding of Mental Health

Furnham, Adrian; Telford, Kate

doi:10.5772/29413

Cited by 21 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Research generally suggests that Westerners have more biological and psychological beliefs while non-Westerners have sociological and theological explanations of mental illness (Nakane et al 2005;Furnham & Telford, 2011). An article comparing Australian and Japanese lay beliefs about the causes of mental illness revealed that 'social and personal vulnerability causes were commonly endorsed' in both countries (Nakane et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Singaporean public beliefs about the causes of mental illness: results from a multi-ethnic population-based study

Pang

Subramaniam

Lee

et al. 2017

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

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Aims. To identify the common causal beliefs of mental illness in a multi-ethnic Southeast Asian community and describe the sociodemographic associations to said beliefs. The factor structure to the causal beliefs scale is explored. The causal beliefs relating to five different mental illnesses (alcohol abuse, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), dementia and schizophrenia) and desire for social distance are also investigated.Methods. Data from 3006 participants from a nationwide vignette-based study on mental health literacy were analysed using factor analysis and multiple logistic regression to address the aims. Participants answered questions related to sociodemographic information, causal beliefs of mental illness and their desire for social distance towards those with mental illness.Results. Physical causes, psychosocial causes and personality causes were endorsed by the sample. Sociodemographic differences including ethnic, gender and age differences in causal beliefs were found in the sample. Differences in causal beliefs were shown across different mental illness vignettes though psychosocial causes was the most highly attributed cause across vignettes (endorsed by 97.9% of respondents), followed by personality causes (83.5%) and last, physical causes (37%). Physical causes were more likely to be endorsed for OCD, depression and schizophrenia. Psychosocial causes were less often endorsed for OCD. Personality causes were less endorsed for dementia but more associated with depression.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Singaporean public beliefs about the causes of mental illness: results from a multi-ethnic population-based study

Pang

Subramaniam

Lee

et al. 2017

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In all 90% of their sample thought therapy would be helpful and 60% that medication would be helpful. Additionally, these findings showed that participants were partly able to discriminate between the different psychological therapies, though other research suggests their understanding of the processes and outcomes of different techniques is often poor (Furnham & Telford, 2011). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Borderline personality disorder was also considered to be more likely to be caused by biological explanations than psychosocial ones (Furnham & Dadabhoy, 2012). Generally, however, lay theories of mental illness seem to be psychosocial, rather than bio-genetic (Furnham & Telford, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The "psychosocial" model suggests that the causes of mental disorders are more social, psychological and environmental, and therefore, treatment is focused on improving psychological and social conditions of the patient (Sarbin & Mancuso, 1972). However, whichever system people prefer, they often resort, in the first instance to self-help rather than professional counselling or therapy, though this preference does depend on both the characteristics of the person and the nature of the their problem (Furnham & Telford, 2011). It seems psychological therapies are preferred to medical interventions for most mental illness problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The central hypothesis is that psychosocial causes and treatments will be preferred to biological and genetic causes and pharmacotherapy (Furnham & Buck, 2003). Additionally, it is predicted that the attitudinal dispositions about aetiology of OCPD will correlate with attitudinal dispositions of OCPD treatments (Furnham & Telford, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychiatric literacy: Lay beliefs of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

Koutoufa

Furnham

2014

Counselling Psychology Quarterly

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This study examined the lay perceptions of the nature, aetiology and treatment of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). An opportunistic, predominantly British, sample of 342 participants completed a 22-item questionnaire on the treatments and causes of OCPD. Factor analysis revealed various constructs about aetiology, including a genetic/biological basis, problems with adaptation, parenting problems and issues of co-morbidity. Similarly, the ratings of the statements about efficacious cures factored into beliefs about psychoanalysis, cognitive behaviour therapy, self-help methods and the possibility of spontaneous remission. Theories of cause and treatment were modestly and significantly correlated. The findings highlight the necessity of greater mental health awareness and the importance of counselling and education in order to increase successful treatment and self-help-seeking of OCPD patients. Limitations of the study are considered.

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Mental health literacy: Public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders in mainland China

Gong

Furnham

2014

PsyCh Journal

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This study was concerned with the general mental health literacy of lay people in mainland China. It replicates in part many studies done in America, Australia, and Europe. A total of 212 participants were asked to read vignettes depicting people with schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, depression, bipolar disorder, stress, child attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), child depression, and child "daily troubles." For each vignette they were asked to label the vignette character's main problem, to evaluate various suggestions for helping that person, to rate their attitudes towards the character, and finally their confidence in all their responses. Overall ADHD was the best identified, and bipolar disorder and stress were the least frequently identified mental health disorders. Professional help from a psychologist/psychiatrist was most frequently endorsed for all disorders, which was followed by help from parents or friends. No significant correlation was found between psychological knowledge and "correct" recognition as defined by the psychiatric label. The findings were discussed in relation to the Chinese language and culture, social beliefs about mental disorders, and suggestions for improvements in mental health literacy. Limitations of this study were also acknowledged, particularly with respect to sampling. Suggestions for future work research were considered.

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Public Attitudes, Lay Theories and Mental Health Literacy: The Understanding of Mental Health

Cited by 21 publications

References 57 publications

The Singaporean public beliefs about the causes of mental illness: results from a multi-ethnic population-based study

The Singaporean public beliefs about the causes of mental illness: results from a multi-ethnic population-based study

Psychiatric literacy: Lay beliefs of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

Mental health literacy: Public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders in mainland China

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