title: Investigation on the influence of a didactic course in psychiatry on attitudes of mental illness in Chinese college students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With the modernization of Chinese society and increased general levels of education, the stigmatization of mental illness may have declined, especially among advanced students. However, misunderstandings about mental illness may remain and adversely affect service delivery to this population. Educational initiatives in psychiatry may support a more accepting and scientific understanding of these illnesses among college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Attitudes towards mental illness were compared between 161 medical students who received a basic 48-hour introductory course in psychiatry and 170 college students who had not received such a course using a 43-item questionnaire. Previous factor analysis had shown this questionnaire to address four factors: 1. Personal willingness to socialize with people with mental illness; 2. Support for normalizing relationships and activities of people with mental illness; 3. Rejecting supernatural explanations of mental illness; and 4. Agreeing with a biopsychosocial view of the etiology of mental illness. Analysis of Co-Variance was used to compare the groups on these factors with adjustment for significant differences in age and years of education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two groups of students scored similarly on the socializing factor (P = 0.252), the rejection of supernatural causes factor (P = 0.248) and the normalizing factor (P = 0.362), but students who had the didactic psychiatry course scored more positively on the biopsychosocial factor (percent difference = 15.06%, P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single formal psychiatry course may improve understanding of the biopsychosocial causes of mental illness but did not affect other attitudinal domains among Chinese college students.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Weidan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Aimin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jingfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Zhening
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese college students; attitudes on mental illness; didactic course; psychiatry; questionnaire