title: Beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia among Aymara and non-Aymara patients and their primary caregivers in the Central-Southern Andes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia between Aymara and non-Aymara patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers. Ethnic background plays an important role in the formation of beliefs regarding the causes of schizophrenia, and there have been no prior studies on such beliefs among the Aymara, an indigenous community with a population of about 2 million people living in the Andes. We focused on three systems of beliefs distinguished in the literature: biological, psychosocial and magical-religious.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample comprised 253 patients (n=117 Aymara, and n=136 non-Aymara) of public mental health centers in Chile (33.6%), Peru (33.6%) and Bolivia (32.8%) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and each patient's primary caregiver. We administered to patients and caregivers a questionnaire with scales assessing the perceived causes of schizophrenia. Linear regression models were fitted to compare differences in the levels of causal beliefs between Aymara and non-Aymara patients and caregivers, and to identify socio-demographic and clinical predictors of different types of beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adjusted for socio-demographic and clinical covariates, levels of psychosocial beliefs were significantly higher for Aymara caregivers (0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.05, 0.62) than non-Aymara caregivers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Contrary to expectations, beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia among Aymara are not more magical-religious than those of their non-Aymara counterparts. It may be necessary for mental health staff members to evaluate beliefs about the disorder, especially in ethnic minorities, before applying a standard model of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Filosofía y Psicología, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile acaqueo@uta.cl.
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caqueo-Urízar
authors.affiliation: Health Division, RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breslau
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gilman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001838:Bolivia; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002677:Chile; D003625:Data Collection; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D010568:Peru; D011584:Psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aymara; Beliefs; Latin America; schizophrenia