title: "Social dangerousness and incurability in schizophrenia": results of an educational intervention for medical and psychology students.
abstract: This study explored the influence of an educational intervention addressing common prejudices and scientific evidence about schizophrenia on medical and psychology students' views of this disorder. The intervention--consisting in two three-hour lessons with an interval of a week between--was run at first for medical students and then for psychology students. Participants' views of schizophrenia were assessed at baseline vs. at post intervention by matched questionnaires. At medical school, participation was voluntary and also included a six-month online re-assessment, while at psychology school, participation was mandatory. A total of 211 students attended the educational initiative. At post intervention assessment, students more frequently mentioned psychosocial causes of schizophrenia, and more firmly believed that recovery in schizophrenia is possible and that persons with this disorder are not unpredictable and dangerous vs. their baseline assessment. The online six-month assessment confirmed favourable changes in medical students' views found at post intervention. These results confirm that an educational intervention including personal experiences and scientific evidence can be successful in reducing students' prejudices toward persons with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy. Electronic address: lorenza.magliano@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Magliano
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Read
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sagliocchi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oliviero
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Ambrosio
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Campitiello
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaccaro
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guizzaro
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Melania
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patalano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Intervention; Medical students; Psychology students; Schizophrenia; Stigma