Refuting Mental Health Misconceptions: A Quasi-Experiment with Abnormal Psychology Courses

Abstract

Misconceptions about psychological phenomena are prevalent among students completing college-level psychology courses. Although these myths are often difficult to eliminate, efforts incorporating a refutational focus have demonstrated some initial promise in dispelling these beliefs. In the current quasi-experimental study, four sections of an online undergraduate Abnormal Psychology course ( n = 113 total students) were randomly assigned to receive either a myth-debunking poster assignment or class as usual. Students in the myth-debunking sections were assigned one of five mental health-focused myths and corresponding refutational readings to guide their development of posters aimed at informing their classmates about the misconception, disputing the misconception, and citing relevant evidence as support. Beliefs about common misconceptions (five directly addressed in the assignment and five filler myths) were measured at the beginning and end of the semester. Results indicated that students in the myth-debunking condition were significantly ( p < .001, d = 1.09) more likely to know the truth, at the conclusion of the course, compared to the control group. Overall, the myth-debunking intervention appears to have been effective at reducing students’ misconceptions about popular psychological myths, perhaps even some non-targeted psychological misconceptions.

Mental illness misconceptions among undergraduates: Prevalence, correlates, and instructional implications.

“…With these statistics in mind, the primary purposes of the present study were twofold: (a) to examine the extensiveness and nature of false beliefs about mental illness and its treatment among students enrolled in introductory psychology courses, and (b) to determine whether student levels of false beliefs regarding mental illness are associated with potentially related variables, including critical thinking skills, attitudes toward science, beliefs in paranormal phenomena, and vocational interests. The results of our study broadly support findings from studies on the prevalence of psychological misconceptions (Furnham, 2018;LaCaille et al, 2019;Taylor & Kowalski, 2004) by showing that a large number of myths are widely believed, but extend these results to mental illness myths in particular. At the same time, our results indicate that certain mental health misconceptions are rarely endorsed.…”

“…The present study was designed to explore the prevalence and correlates of misconceptions regarding mental illness and its treatment among undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Although several published studies have examined students’ misconceptions about psychology in general, only one study, by LaCaille et al (2019), has focused exclusively on misconceptions about mental illness, and that study examined only five such misconceptions. Yet scattered data suggest that many undergraduates hold misconceptions about mental disorders.…”

Refuting Misconceptions in an Introductory Psychology Course for Preservice Teachers

“…Although we realized a randomized experimental design, there was potential for contamination between the intervention and the control group due to the naturalistic setting (in other words, students would have been able to discuss the assignments). As LaCaille et al (2019) pointed out, it is possible that some students in our control group may have known of other students who were part of the intervention group. However, students were not aware at any time that the division of the lecture into two groups was intertwined with an experimental design, because all students enrolled in the lecture (not only study participants) were randomly assigned to one of the two groups and the bi-weekly holding of the lecture (alternating for the two groups) had become necessary for organizational reasons and lack of room capacity.…”

“…According to these assumptions, research on the reduction of misconceptions and the promotion of critical thinking in introductory psychology courses (Blessing & Blessing, 2010; Kowalski & Taylor, 2009; LaCaille, 2015; LaCaille et al, 2019; McCarthy & Frantz, 2016) finds that refutational strategies appear most effective in terms of changing students’ misconceptions (for a meta-analysis see Schroeder & Kucera, 2022; Tippett, 2010). This is in line with numerous intervention studies outside introductory settings, which highlight the benefits of what is referred to as refutational text (e.g., Bensley & Lilienfeld, 2017).…”

“…The impressive body of research on conceptual change within various contexts, and particularly that pertaining to science education (for an overview see Duit et al, 2013), indeed indicates that a sustained shift in students’ existing concepts and beliefs may require a combination of formats and teaching techniques (Smith et al, 1993). For example, LaCaille et al (2019) compared a myth-debunking poster assignment with classes “as usual”. The results indicated that such assignments (similarly see Lassonde et al, 2017) promote critical thinking, improving students’ ability to reflect on and revise their knowledge and any misconceptions they may hold (Blessing & Blessing, 2010).…”