Permission to Secede? The Impact of Foreign Endorsements on Attitudes Toward Separatist Movements

Americans' Attitudes Toward Mental Health Treatment Seeking: 1990-2003

Construction and validation of the Disability Rights Attitude Scale: Assessing attitudes toward the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessStrategies in Antistigma Battle Appear to Be WorkingEve BenderEve BenderSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:15 Jun 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.42.12.0008aSeeking treatment for mental health problems has become more acceptable since the early 1990s, according to a new study. The more positive attitudes toward treatment over time may have contributed to a growing demand for mental health services over recent years.Data comparing attitudes toward mental health treatment in two nationally representative surveys showed that 27.1 percent of those surveyed between 1990 and 1992 reported being “very comfortable” with talking to a professional about personal problems, compared with 32.4 percent of those surveyed between 2001 and 2003.The findings appeared in the May Psychiatric Services.Lead author Ramin Mojtabai, M.D., Ph.D., told Psychiatric News that although he couldn't draw any definitive conclusions about these findings, he believed that a number of changes in the mental health field may have shifted attitudes for the better. Mojtabai is a PGY-3 resident in psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.Throughout the 1990s there was an increase in direct-to-consumer marketing of antidepressants, he explained, and a surge in depression-prevention and suicide-screening programs. This may have had a positive effect on public attitudes toward treatment.To detect these trends in attitudes about mental illness, Mojtabai compared data from respondents to the 1990-1992 National Comorbidity Study (NCS) with those from the 2001-2003 NCS–Replication (NCS-R), both of which studied mental health problems and treatment in the United States.For the NCS, researchers interviewed 8,098 randomly selected people aged 15 to 54 in their homes. For the NCS-R 10 years later, they interviewed a separate, randomly selected sample of 9,282 adults over age 18 in their homes.Three questions generated responses on attitudes toward mental health treatment: Participants reported whether they would seek help for a serious emotional problem on a scale ranging from “probably” to“ definitely not,” the degree to which they were comfortable talking about personal problems to a professional, and the degree to which they would be embarrassed if their friends knew they were getting professional help for an emotional problem (see chart). Responses to these questions were categorized on a scale from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes toward treatment.Mojtabai found that 35.6 percent of respondents to the NCS reported that they would “definitely” go for professional help for a serious emotional problem, compared with 41.4 percent of NCS-R respondents. He also found that 33.7 percent of NCS respondents reported that they would not be embarrassed if friends knew about their getting professional help. This number jumped to 40.3 percent for respondents to the later survey.When Mojtabai analyzed the findings by age, he found that adults aged 18 to 34 in the NCS-R had more positive attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking than adults of the same age did in the original NCS. However, adults in the 35 to 54 age range showed little change in attitudes at the two time points.“Although attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking improved in all generations,” he said, “the improvement was greatest in the generation that was 15 to 24 years old in 1990 to 1992.” This may be because they had more exposure to public-information campaigns and other positive media messages about mental illness, Mojtabai speculated.Data based on logistical regression analyses of treatment-seeking attitudes showed that black participants were 56 percent more likely to have a positive attitude toward treatment than were whites.In addition, respondents with a history of mental health treatment were 68 times as likely to have a favorable attitude toward mental health treatment as those who didn't.Mojtabai said future research should explore what specific factors impact attitude toward mental health treatment. “We also need to examine the impact of attitudes on service use,” he noted.An abstract of “Americans' Attitudes Toward Mental Health Treatment Seeking: 1990-2003” is posted at<http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/58/5/642>.▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Public awareness and attitudes toward epilepsy were surveyed in Finland. Three thousand names were randomly selected from the population registry in the age range of 15 to 64 years. Of the 2,789 persons contacted, 2,272 (81%) answered a questionnaire about epilepsy. The social background of the responsdents did not deviate significantly from that of the general population in this age range. The questionnaire consisted of 28 questions designed to determine the respondents' social background, acquaintance with epileptic persons, awareness of epilepsy, and opinions and attitudes about the disorder. Ninety-five percent of the respondents had heard of epilepsy, 49% knew an epileptic person, 45% had seen a seizure, 15% were familiar with the causes of epilepsy, 12% knew how to help a person having a generalized convulsive seizure, and 1% would leave their jobs if they had to work with an epileptic person. The attitudes toward children with epilepsy were more charitable than toward epileptic adults. The factors of knowing an epileptic person, education, and age had the greatest influence on awareness and knowledge of epilepsy and to a lesser extent, attitudes toward it. The level of knowledge of epilepsy was rather low, especially in younger age groups. The results appeared useful for the Attitude Formation Program of the Finnish League for Epilepsy. Those processes that govern the forming and changing of attitudes toward epilepsy in school or work should be traced. An information campaign will be continued, and the survey of public attitudes toward epilepsy will be renewed in the future.

Using data from a statewide relationship education (RE) program targeting a diverse adolescent sample, this study examined RE implementation in classroom environments. The purpose of this study was to explore (1) whether there is a beneficial RE program effect for change in individual attitudes toward sexual delay, (2) whether individual factors—student gender and sexual activity—predict change in attitudes toward sexual delay for students experiencing the intervention, and (3) whether classmate characteristics influence individual change in attitudes toward sexual delay. This study utilized multilevel modeling procedures to examine both individual- and classroom-level predictors of change in attitudes toward sexual delay. At the individual level, results indicated that females demonstrated more change in attitudes toward sexual delay than males and students who were sexually active demonstrated less change toward sexual delay compared with students who were not sexually active. At the classroom level, both racial composition and the proportion of sexually active classmates influenced individual attitude change. Although students in classrooms with higher proportions of African American peers demonstrated less attitude change toward sexual delay, the proportion of sexually active peers in the classroom appeared to be a more salient aspect of classmate composition. Overall, this study supports the importance of considering both individual characteristics as well as social context when assessing program experience and effectiveness. Implications for future research and practice are offered.

In recent years, mass shootings by persons with serious mental illness have received extensive news media coverage. The authors test the effects of news stories about mass shootings on public attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness and support for gun control policies. They also examine whether news coverage of proposals to prevent persons with serious mental illness from having guns exacerbates the public's negative attitudes toward this group. The authors conducted a survey-embedded randomized experiment using a national sample (N=1,797) from an online panel. Respondents were randomly assigned to groups instructed to read one of three news stories or to a no-exposure control group. The news stories described, respectively, a mass shooting by a person with serious mental illness, the same mass shooting and a proposal for gun restrictions for persons with serious mental illness, and the same mass shooting and a proposal to ban large-capacity magazines. Outcome measures included attitudes toward working with or living near a person with serious mental illness, perceived dangerousness of persons with serious mental illness, and support for gun restrictions for persons with serious mental illness and for a ban on large-capacity magazines. Compared with the control group, the story about a mass shooting heightened respondents' negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness and raised support for gun restrictions for this group and for a ban on large-capacity magazines. Including information about the gun restriction policy in a story about a mass shooting did not heighten negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness or raise support for the restrictions. The aftermath of mass shootings is often viewed as a window of opportunity to garner support for gun control policies, but it also exacerbates negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness.

Public attitudes toward persons with mental illness.

To better understand the public's attitude toward arthropods, a telephone survey was conducted of 1,117 households in Arizona. Only a small percentage (6.0%) took pleasure from arthropods encountered outside the home, whereas fewer still (<1.0%) enjoyed those found inside the home. Conversely, over half of those interviewed said they either disliked or were afraid of outdoor arthropods, and 88% were either afraid of or disliked indoor arthropods. Attitudes toward indoor and outdoor arthropods were separately dependent (P < 0.05) upon sex, level of education, residence in a metropolitan area, and whether or not the respondents owned or rented the home in which they lived. Attitudes toward outdoor arthropods were separately dependent upon age and family income. A multivariate analysis indicated these variables were independent of one another in respondent relations toward arthropods. When asked to rate certain animals relative to one another, we found that respondents readily discriminate between desirable and undesirable arthropods. The gathering of precise information concerning public attitudes is thought to be a critical step in the implementation of any urban pest management program. The information can be used to identify societal groups that are most receptive to educational programs concerning urban pest biology and most willing to participate in urban pest management programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate public attitude toward investment in sustainable infrastructure in Taiwan. We decomposed the value of sustainability development into three dimensions, namely, environmental, societal, and economic values, and then showed that there were relationships between public attitude toward investment in sustainable cities and these sub-values of sustainability development. To do so, we built scales to measure public attitude toward investment in sustainable infrastructure and these sub-values of sustainability development. We used a questionnaire to collect our data, interviewing 359 undergraduate students in June of 2018. Multiple regression models were then employed for statistical analysis. We first found that, after controlling for the students’ gender and majors, the public attitude toward sustainable cities in Taiwan was correlated with environmental value but only partially related to economic value. Meanwhile, the relationship between the public attitude toward investment in sustainable cities and societal value was trivial. Moreover, we also found that the economic, societal, and environmental values of sustainability development are not mutually exclusive concepts but, rather, are compatible with each other in the overall concept of sustainable city design. We concluded that investment in sustainable cities in Taiwan was regarded by the public as mainly contributing to environmental value. These findings provide a theoretical contribution to the literature of environmental psychology. Furthermore, the conclusions of the study have methodological and practical implications for countries and firms involved in the public infrastructure development of sustainable cities.

In 2007, many believed the United States was on the verge of a “tipping point” that would have resulted in a comprehensive national plan to deal with climate change. However, for a variety of reasons, this never came to pass. This project compares the results of three unique national public opinion surveys that probe deep into the public's perceptions of climate change. Using surveys conducted in 2004, 2007, and 2013, we explore public behaviors and attitudes about climate change and examine which of the two competing explanations (economy vs. Climategate) for attitude changes might have had the most impact on the declines witnessed since 2007. Overall, these results help to explain the current state of public attitudes toward climate change.

This study examined Israeli public perceptions of institutional child sexual abuse (CSA) in the Malka Leifer case. Leifer is a Jewish ultra-Orthodox former Melbourne school principal who is wanted in Australia on CSA charges, after fleeing to Israel. Based on a qualitative analysis of 2,451 reader comments retrieved from four Israeli news websites and six public Facebook pages, the findings indicated diverse attitudes toward the alleged perpetrator, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, state authorities, and victims. All parties involved were criticized, but less so the victims. Criticisms included sociopolitical and gender stereotypes, and demonic attributions. Positive comments were directed at all involved, even the alleged perpetrator, and especially the victims. The results demonstrate the need to better understand CSA portrayals in cyberspace, as they affect both public and policymaker attitudes, and the importance of fighting prejudicial discourse about the ultra-Orthodox community, especially in light of its changing attitudes regarding CSA.

The process of students' evaluation in medical schools has changed from a tutor-led evaluation system based on students' performance to a student-based evaluation that involves self-reflection and their level of change in skills and attitudes. At the McGill University Division of Geriatric Medicine, we developed an innovative system of evaluation known as the McGill Electronic Evaluation Portfolio (MEEP). The MEEP has proven to be a useful tool to motivate students' self-reflection and to induce students' change in attitudes toward aging and Geriatric Medicine. In this article, we exemplified a process of self-reflection by a medical student throughout his mandatory clerkship rotation in Geriatric Medicine. The article shows his change in attitudes toward his geriatric patients induced by his own experience and his interactions with tutors and members of the multidisciplinary team. In summary, the use of an electronic evaluation method may stimulate students' self-reflection and a positive change in attitudes toward aging and geriatrics.

Energy Conservation and Attitudes Toward Technology

Public attitudes towards persons with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have a significant effect on potential community integration. A better understanding of these can help target service provision and public awareness programmes. The objective of the present study is threefold: (1) describe public attitudes towards persons with ID along affective, cognitive and behavioural dimensions; (2) compare and contrast attitudes according to sex, age, education and income, as well as frequency and quality of contacts with persons with ID; and (3) ascertain whether the level of functioning has an effect on attitudes. The Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire (ATTID) was administered by phone to 1605 randomly selected adult men and women, stratified by region in the province of Québec, Canada. The ATTID uses a multidimensional perspective of attitudes that reflect affective, cognitive and behavioural dimensions. The results showed that public attitudes were generally positive regarding all three attitudinal dimensions. Public attitudes towards persons with ID are presented in terms of the five factors measured through the ATTID: (1) discomfort; (2) sensibility or tenderness; (3) knowledge of causes; (4) knowledge of capacity and rights; and (5) interaction. Attitude factor scores vary as a function of participant characteristics (sex, age, education and income) and the degree of knowledge about ID, the number of persons with ID known to the participants, as well as the frequency and quality of their contacts with these persons. Men had greater negative attitudes than women as regards the discomfort factor, while women had more negative attitudes regarding the knowledge of capacity and rights factor. More positive attitudes were revealed among younger and more educated participants. Attitudes were generally not associated with income. Public attitudes tended to be more negative towards people with lower functioning ID. These results yield useful information to target public awareness and education.

BackgroundDespite the advanced development of evidence-based psychological treatment services, help-seeking persons with mental health problems often fail to receive appropriate professional help. Internet-delivered psychotherapy has thus been suggested as an efficient strategy to overcome barriers to access mental health care on a large scale. However, previous research indicated poor public acceptability as an issue for the dissemination of Internet-delivered therapies. Currently, little is known about the expectations and attitudes toward Internet-delivered therapies in the general population. This is especially the case for countries such as Germany where electronic mental health (e-mental health) treatment services are planned to be implemented in routine care.ObjectiveThis pilot study aimed to determine the expectations and attitudes toward Internet-based psychotherapy in the general population in Germany. Furthermore, it aimed to explore the associations between attitudes toward Internet-based therapies and perceived stress.MethodsTo assess public attitudes toward Internet-based psychotherapy, we conducted both Web-based and paper-and-pencil surveys using a self-developed 14-item questionnaire (Cronbach alpha=.89). Psychological distress was measured by employing a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the 20-item German version of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ). In addition, we conducted explorative factor analysis (principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation). Spearman’s rank correlations were used to determine the associations between attitudes toward Internet-based therapies and perceived stress.ResultsDescriptive analyses revealed that most respondents (N=1558; female: 78.95%, 1230/1558) indicated being not aware of the existence of Internet-delivered therapies (83.46%, 1141/1367). The average age was 32 years (standard deviation, SD 10.9; range 16-76). Through exploratory factor analysis, we identified 3 dimensions of public attitudes toward Internet-based therapies, which we labeled “usefulness or helpfulness,” “relative advantage or comparability,” and “accessibility or access to health care.” Analyses revealed negative views about Internet-based therapies on most domains, such as perceived helpfulness. The study findings further indicated ambivalent attitudes: Although most respondents agreed to statements on expected improvements in health care (eg, expanded access), we observed low intentions to future use of Internet-delivered therapies in case of mental health problems.ConclusionsThis pilot study showed deficient “e-awareness” and rather negative or ambivalent attitudes toward Internet-delivered therapies in the German-speaking general population. However, research targeting determinants of the large-scale adoption of Internet-based psychotherapy is still in its infancy. Thus, further research is required to explore the “black box” of public attitudes toward Internet-delivered therapies with representative samples, validated measures, and longitudinal survey designs.