Abstract

QUERIDO, Ana; TOMAS, Catarina  and  CARVALHO, Daniel. Mental health stigma in health students. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2016, n.spe3, pp.67-72. ISSN 1647-2160.  https://doi.org/10.19131/rpesm.0120.

BACKGROUND: Stigma and discrimination are major obstacles to care for people with mental disorder. Studies with university students of health report that they have pronounced levels of stigma. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the level of stigma in mental health of students in Health Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL) and compare their attitudes towards mental illness. METHODS: Quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study in a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 573 students of Health courses data collection via a self-report questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic questions and the Portuguese of Attribution Questionnaire Version (AQ 27). RESULTS: In the total sample there is the presence of low to moderate stigma in all courses. Moderate presence of stigma has predominance in the penalty expression against the mentally ill, coercion and segregation. The lowest value of stigma there was the irritation of expression. There are significant differences in the different courses face stigma in general and relating to stigmatizing attitudes of responsibility, irritation hazard, help, avoidance. The Poshoc tests always oposed to occupational therapy to other courses. CONCLUSION: The stigma values are not high in the different groups of students, and students of occupational therapy are those who showed less stigma. Potentially stigmatizing attributions were identified that need intervention, pointing to the need to rethink the pedagogical strategies towards reducing stigma.

Keywords : Social stigma; Mental health; Students; Mental disorder.

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