title: The influence of causal explanations and diagnostic labeling on medical students' views of schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Negative attitudes toward mental illness among medical professionals can influence the quality of medical care they provide. The authors examined the impact of causal explanations and diagnostic labeling on medical students' views of schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical students in their fifth and sixth years at the Second University of Naples (Italy) who attended lectures from April through June 2010 completed a self-report questionnaire regarding their beliefs about the mental disorder described (but not named) in a case vignette depicting a person who meets the International Classification of Diseases-10 criteria for schizophrenia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 232 students invited, 194 (84%) completed the questionnaire. Students most frequently cited heredity as the cause (81%), followed by stress (69%), psychological traumas (45%), and misuse of street drugs (44%). Most students (82%) labeled the case "schizophrenia"; a minority (24%) believed that persons with the case vignette disorder could be well again. Both labeling the case as "schizophrenia" and naming heredity as the cause were independently associated with pessimism about the possibility of recovery and with the perception that "others" keep their distance from persons with this diagnosis. Heredity was more frequently cited by respondents who labeled the case schizophrenia and was significantly associated with students' perception that people with this diagnosis are unpredictable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings confirm that, in a sample of medical students, biogenetic causal explanations and diagnostic labeling have negative effects on beliefs about schizophrenia. They highlight the need to educate medical students about recovery from and stigma related to schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy. lorenza.magliano@unina2.it
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Magliano
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rega
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oliviero
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sagliocchi
authors.forename: Melania
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patalano
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Ambrosio
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires