Positive Attitude Scale Research Articles

Young Adults' Attitudes toward Mental Illness in Saudi Arabia

Background: Public attitudes influence social acceptability of mental illness and one’s decision to seek help. Despite the high prevalence rate of psychological disorders in Saudi Arabia, few studies have been conducted to examine young adults’ attitudes toward mental illness in the Kingdom. Up until today, no studies have examined the differences in attitudes toward mental illness between Saudis and non-Saudis living in Saudi Arabia.
 Aim: The main aim of the study is to examine associations between demographic characteristics (educational level, gender, past experience with mental illness and nationality), and attitudes toward mental illness in Saudi Arabia.
 Participants and methods: The sample in this study consisted of 242 participants (females = 188; males = 54), aged 18-29. Attitudes toward mental illness were assessed using a modified version of the Attitudes to Mental Illness (AMI). The 20-item instrument measures four factors of attitudes: social distancing, tolerance and support for community care, social restrictiveness, and prejudice and misconception. The data was collected using surveys posted online.
 Results: Results revealed that people with bachelor’s degrees or higher are more socially distant and socially restrictive toward people with mental illness. Consistent with previous findings, participants with past experiences with mental illness scored higher on positive attitude scale, scoring lower on social distancing, social restrictiveness, prejudice and misconception and higher on tolerance and support for community care than people with no past experiences with mental illness. In addition, females scored higher than males on the positive attitude scale, scoring lower in social distancing, prejudice and misconception and higher on tolerance and support for community care. Furthermore, Saudis scored higher on positive attitude scale, scoring lower than non-Saudis on social distancing and prejudice and misconceptions.
 Conclusion and recommendations: The findings of this study revealed that young adults’ attitudes toward mental illness are influenced by educational level, gender, past experience with mental illness and nationality.

Attitude of dental interns toward learning communication skills in Bangalore city: A cross-sectional study

Background: Positive health outcomes are a result of effective physician-patient communication and assessment of the attitude of dental students toward learning communication skills may help dental educators to devise effective plans to orient students toward learning communication skills and make proactive efforts to hone their skills. Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the attitude of dental interns toward learning communication skills. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 400 dental interns involving both males and females were selected from various dental colleges in Bangalore city for this study. Data were collected using the dental communication skills attitude scale, which consists of 24 items, 13 indicative of positive attitude and 11 indicative of the negative attitude toward learning communication skills. Statistical Analysis: The positive attitude scale and negative attitude scale scores were calculated and compared among different groups using SPSS software version 22. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of 400 participants, 150 (37.5%) were male and 250 (62.5%) were female. There was a significant difference in mean score of positive attitude between males (52.4 ± 5.6) and females (51.1 ± 6.0) (P = 0.03). The mean score of negative attitude was significantly higher among students whose teaching language was other than English (31.9 ± 5.1) when compared to students whose teaching language was English (29.8 ± 5.0) (P = 0.03). Conclusions: Dental interns have a strong positive attitude toward learning communication skills; however, negative attitudes should not be ignored, as they may subdue the importance of such programs.

Validation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) Questionnaire in a Cohort of Malaysian Medical Students

Introduction: The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) assesses medical students’ attitudes towards learning communication skills and had been widely utilised all over the world. This questionnaire has 26 items framed within two subscales. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the CSAS among medical students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Methods: This was a cross sectional questionnaire validation study among 171 first year medical students from UiTM. The CSAS had undergone content and face validation, followed by psychometric analysis using principal component analysis to assess construct validity. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach alpha. Results: Factor analysis confirmed the original two-subscale structure of the CSAS (positive attitude scale, PAS and negative attitude scale, NAS). A total of 4 items were removed due to poor factor loading (1 item from PAS and 3 items from NAS). The final validated CSAS consisted of 22 items, 14 and 8 items for the PAS and NAS respectively. Cronbach alphas calculated were 0.862 for the PAS and 0.565 for the NAS. Conclusion: This study produced a validated and reliable CSAS to measure the attitude of UiTM medical students towards learning communication skills. Given the low internal reliability of the NAS in this study, future studies should include translating and validating the CSAS into the Malay language to improve its psychometric properties. Future studies should also include medical students from the three major ethnic groups and other medical schools in Malaysia to improve the generalisability of the CSAS.

The property of the Japanese version of the Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) among mental health service providers: a cross sectional study

BackgroundThe Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) is one of the influential scales to assess knowledge and attitude toward recovery-oriented practices among mental health service providers. In the present study, we aimed to develop a Japanese version of RKI and examine the validity and reliability.MethodsWe translated RKI into Japanese by reference to the guidelines for translating and adapting psychometric scales. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with mental health service providers. Of a total of 475 eligible professionals, we used data from the 299 participants without missing value for the analyses (valid response rate = 62.9%). The questionnaire included Japanese RKI, Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire, The positive attitudes scale, and Japanese-language version of the Social Distance Scale. To examine the factorial validity of RKI, explanatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was employed. Convergent validity was assessed by calculating Pearson’s correlation coefficients between the total RKI score and the scores for the other three scales. We also calculated Cronbach’s α coefficients for the total score and for each domain of RKI to assess internal consistency reliability.ResultsThe participants’ mean age was 40.4 years and 30.4% were men. 20-item RKI did not provide any adequate or interpretable factor solutions at any number of factors by EFAs. Thus four items (#1, 4, 5, and 13) were subsequently eliminated in stages, then 16-item RKI was employed as a consequence for further analyses. EFA with four factor structures yielded marginally interpretable constitution. Each factor represented the knowledge regarding psychiatric symptoms and recovery; knowledge about the recovery process; the understanding of what is important for recovery; and the understanding of the challenges and responsibility in recovery, respectively. Subsequent CFA suggested good fit to the data. Good convergent validity and understandable internal consistency reliability were also observed.ConclusionsThe Japanese 16-item RKI revealed reasonable factorial validity, good convergent validity, and understandable internal consistency reliability among mental health professionals. Japanese cultural settings seemed to influence the four-factor structure in the present study. It can be used for future study in Japan, while future large-scale research is required to ensure robust verification.

Communication and Social Skills in Education of Health Occupation Students

The aim was to investigate whether social skills’ training (SST) influences attitudes towards communication skills learning and to validate the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale (CSAS) among students of health studies in the Republic of Croatia. SST (10 workshops) was implemented for this purpose. Seventy 1st year students in four Croatian university health studies were randomly selected to take part in the training and 169 students were part of the control group. CSAS was administered at the beginning and end of training to both groups. The results indicated good metric characteristics in relation to CSAS and its two-factor structure (positive attitude scale and negative attitude scale). Furthermore, we did not record significant changes in attitudes towards communication skills learning in both groups. However, pursuant to average results from the subscales attitudes towards communication skills learning, we noticed that negative attitudes tend to decrease and positive tend to increase. This indicates that 10 workshops might have been insufficient in order to change attitudes. Keywords: validation, communication and social skills, training

An Examination of Psychometric Properties of Positive Functional Attitudes Scale

The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of Coping Attitudes Scale: Measure of Positive Attitudes in Depression (CAS) among Turkish young adult community sample and determine the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of this scale. This study was conducted with 419 students attending different departments in Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Education in the spring semester of academic year of 2015-2016. Positive Functional Attitudes Scale, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Automatic Thoughts Scale, Positivity Scale and Developed Automatic Thoughts Scale.were used as data collection tools. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for investigation of the psychometric properties of the PFAS. Also, criterion-related validity, test-retest validity, and internal consistency were used calculated. The CFA results showed that standardized item estimates of the CAS ranged between 0.45 and 0.47. Also the CFA results showed that the original factor structure of the PFAS confirmed on the Turkish sample. internal consistency was calculated using the total community sample’s PFAS score. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ort he total scale (.93) was high. Test-retest results of the subscales were 0.76. The findings showed that factor structures of the PFAS’ life perspective, personal accomplishment, positive future, self-worth, coping with problems had psychometric quality in Turkish version. As a result of the study, the Turkish version of PFAS has good validity and reliability for young adult community sample.

Psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) among mental health providers: a questionnaire survey.

Background“Recovery” is a central concept in mental health, particularly for mental health services and policy-makers. The present study examined the factorial and concurrent validity, internal consistency reliability, and test–retest reliability of the Japanese version of the 7-item Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire (RAQ) among mental health service providers in community and inpatient settings in Japan.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire with a number of eligible professional groups, including psychiatrists, registered/assistant nurses, public health nurses, clinical psychologists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and social workers. Participants were drawn from two psychiatric hospitals and 56 psychiatric clinics or community service agencies. In total, 331 participants completed the questionnaire. After excluding those with missing RAQ values, 307 participants were included in the analysis; the participants’ mean age was 40.2 years and 29.6 % were men. The questionnaire comprised the Japanese version of the 7-item RAQ developed by the present authors, the revised scale of the positive attitudes of staff toward persons with mental disorder (the positive attitudes scale), and the Japanese-language version of the Social Distance Scale (SDSJ). Confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine factorial validity of a two-factor structure reported in a previous study (Borkin et al., 2000) as well as a single-factor structure. Concurrent validity was determined by calculating correlations between RAQ and the other two scales. Internal consistency reliability was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and inter-item correlations. Test–retest reliability was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), with a weighted kappa in a subsample of participants (n = 13).ResultsThe two-factor structure showed acceptable factorial validity. RAQ scores were significantly and positively correlated with the positive attitudes scale, and there was a significant inverse correlation with the SDSJ (p < 0.01). The RAQ had an overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.64. Four inter-item correlations were not significant. The ICC and weighted kappa values indicated unsatisfactory test–retest reliability.ConclusionThe Japanese RAQ showed acceptable factorial validity, reasonable concurrent validity, and unsatisfactory reliability in community and inpatient mental health settings in Japan. Further large-scale research is required to ensure robust verification.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-016-0740-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A comparison of medical students′, residents′ and tutors′ attitudes towards communication skills learning

The consensus about the importance of communication skills in patient-care does not guarantee that students and faculty perceive the usefulness of these skills. This study evaluated and compared medical students', residents' and tutors' attitudes towards learning communication skills, and examined the association with gender and year of residency. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 492 participants (282 second-year students, 131 residents and 79 tutors). They completed the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) and demographic/educational information. In general, participants showed positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Medical students, residents and tutors did not differ on the Positive Attitudes Scale (CSAS-PAS). Residents scored higher than medical students on the Negative Attitudes Scale (CSAS-NAS) (P < 0.01). Females showed higher scores on the CSAS-PAS (P < 0.05) and lower scores on the CSAS-NAS (P < 0.01) than males in all subsamples. The effect sizes were medium. There were no significant differences according to year of residency. Medical students, residents and tutors consider training in communication skills an essential component for clinical practice and they agree about the need to learn these communication skills. Attention should be paid to measuring attitudes at all three levels of medical education in the design of communication skills courses.

Attitudes towards learning communication skills and factors affecting learning communication skills of final year medical students

Background It’s widely accepted that medical students should acquire and demonstrate proficiency in communication by the end of their undergraduate education although many students don’t consider it as important as the clinical skills. This study identifies the attitudes of medical students towards, and the factors affecting learning of communication skills. Methods Descriptive cross sectional study was carried out with 162 final year medical students of Rajarata university of Sri Lanka. Their attitudes towards learning communication skills and factors affecting learning communication skills were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire with modified Communication Skills Assessment Scale incorporated with likert scale from a previous Sri Lankan study. Positive attitude scale (PAS) and negative attitude scale (NAS) questions were analyzed separately. Results The mean age of the students was 25.8 years. 53.7% (n=87) of students were females. Vast majority were Sinhalese (93.7%) and Buddhists (84.6%). Quarter (25.7%) of the students believed their communication skills were below average and 46.3% thought they are average. One third (34%) were comfortable when communicating with patients in a second language. Majority thought that the communication skills must be taught. 65.4% of the students asked for a separate module on communication skills in their curriculum. 73.5% wanted it to be done before clinicals. 34% opted for audio visual examples, and 35.8% thought role plays with colleagues were better. 61.7% thought that the busy work schedule in the prof unit prevent them from learning communication skills. Conclusion The medical students have understood the importance of learning communication skills for their medical carrier and they are interested in learning them. Therefore the medical education should put more weight on the communication skills adopting novel education strategies.

Association between stigmatisation and experiences of evidence-based practice by psychiatric rehabilitation staff in Japan: a cross-sectional survey

Background: Mental health professionals are one of the groups holding harmful stigmatisation towards people with mental illness.Aims: To investigate the association between the performance of evidence-based practice (EBP) and the staff’s level of stigmatisation in Japan.Methods: The study enrolled 179 staff members in psychiatric day-care, psychiatric community outreach teams, and psychiatric rehabilitation teams at 14 psychiatric hospitals. The Positive Attitudes Scale (PAS), the Japanese-language version of the Social Distance Scale (SDSJ) and the Recovery Attitude Questionnaire (RAQ) were employed as outcome measures. Scores on each scale were compared between participants who performed EBPs and those who had never performed EBPs.Results: Approximately 40% of the staff engaged in at least assertive community treatment, supported employment or family psychoeducation. The staff who performed EBPs had significantly higher scores on PAS (MD, 7.09; 95% CIs, 4.09–10.09) and RAQ (MD, 1.30; 95% CIs, 0.36–2.25) but lower scores on SDSJ (MD, −2.41; 95% CIs, −3.50 to −1.32) than those who never performed EBPs. Multivariate analyses found that EBP experience was associated with a low level of staff stigmatisation after controlling for confounders.Conclusion: The findings suggest that an individual EBP experience is associated with their reduced stigmatisation.

English

BACKGROUND: Effective physician – patient communication is very important to positive health outcomes. Assessment of attitude of medical students towards learning communication skills may help medical educators to devise effective plans to orient the students towards learning communication skills. Owing to the scarcity of data in Indian context, the present study aimed to assess the attitude of medical students towards learning communication skills at a private medical college in Pondicherry, India. OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the attitude of medical students towards learning communication skills. 2. To compare the results of attitude scores among the medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 300 undergraduate medical students involving both male and female, in the age groups of 18-23 years were selected and were divided into five groups depending on their year of study. Data was collected using communication skills attitude scale (CSAS), which consists of 26 items, 13 indicative of positive attitude and 13 indicative of negative attitude toward learning communication skills. The positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated and compared among different groups using SPSS software version 22. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean scores for Positive attitude scale (PAS) and Negative attitude scale (NAS) of the medical students were 51.7±6.92 and 29.8±5.98 respectively. There was no statistically significant gender difference in the PAS and NAS scores. However significant differences were observed between the groups. First year medical students had a significantly lower PAS and high NAS scores compared to the other groups (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Medical students have strong positive attitudes towards learning communication skills; hence communication skill training programs may be incorporated in the undergraduate medical curriculum. However negative attitudes should not be ignored, as they may subdue the importance of such programs. Further difference in experiences of interaction with patients does interfere with the perception of the importance of learning communication skills.

Http://amj.net.au/index.php?journal=AMJ&amp;page=article&amp;op=viewFile&amp;path%5B%5D=1838&amp;path%5B%5D=1106

Medical student attitudes towards communication skills are important for curriculum planners and teachers. Xavier University School of Medicine (XUSOM) is a private medical school admitting students mainly from the United States and Canada. Attitude of students towards communication skills has not been previously studied in the institution. Hence the present study was carried out. The study was carried out among the first, second, third and fourth semester undergraduate medical (MD) students at XUSOM, Aruba during July 2013 using the communication skills attitude scale (CSAS). Respondents' age, gender, nationality, occupation of parents, place of residence of family, semester of study were noted. The positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated and compared among different subgroups of respondents (p<0.05). Fifty-one of the seventy-three students (69.9 per cent) participated. The majority were between 20 to 25 years of age, of American nationality, from metro cities and had excellent or good self-perceived verbal and written communication skills. The mean positive attitude scale (PAS) score was 47.65 (maximum being 65) and the mean negative attitude scale (NAS) score was 31.06 (maximum 65). PAS score was significantly higher among respondents whose fathers were not in health related professions. NAS scores were significantly lower among the third and fourth semester respondents. Students overall had a positive attitude towards communication skills but negative attitudes were also noted Based on results of the study and a review of literature we are planning to start communication skills learning in the institution right from the first semester and students will be provided opportunities for supervised practice during early clinical exposure, hospital observership and with standardised patients. The medical humanities module will be expanded and communication skills learning will continue during the clinical years with higher order skills being taught.

Comparing three experiential learning methods and their effect on medical students’ attitudes to learning communication skills

Background: Despite numerous studies exploring medical students’ attitudes to communication skills learning (CSL), there are apparently no studies comparing different experiential learning methods and their influence on students’ attitudes.Aims: We compared medical students’ attitudes to learning communication skills before and after a communication course in the data as a whole, by gender and when divided into three groups using different methods.Method: Second-year medical students (n = 129) were randomly assigned to three groups. In group A (n = 42) the theatre in education method, in group B (n = 44) simulated patients and in group C (n = 43) role-play were used. The data were gathered before and after the course using Communication Skills Attitude Scale.Results: Students’ positive attitudes to learning communication skills (PAS; positive attitude scale) increased significantly and their negative attitudes (NAS; negative attitude scale) decreased significantly between the beginning and end of the course. Female students had more positive attitudes than the male students. There were no significant differences in the three groups in the mean scores for PAS or NAS measured before or after the course.Conclusions: The use of experiential methods and integrating communication skills training with visits to health centres may help medical students to appreciate the importance of CSL.

Attitudes of Sri Lankan Medical Students toward Learning Communication Skills

The General Medical Council of the UK, advocates that by the end of their undergraduate course, medical students should be proficient in communicating with patients. However, the attitude of some medical students toward formal training in communication skills seems lukewarm. Although several studies on assessing attitudes of medical students on learning communication skills have been carried out in Europe and America, Asian studies are very few and literature in the Sri Lankan context is lacking. To explore the attitudes of first to fourth year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya (FOMUP), Sri Lanka on learning communication skills and to identify possible factors that may influence student attitudes. A total of 675 students from year 1 to 4 of the FOMUP were asked to complete a modified version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Items of its positive attitude scale (PAS) were analyzed together while negative items were considered individually. Response rates ranged from 70% to 98% for the various year groups. There were no significant differences between the PAS for males and females and for those exposed to formal training and those who were not. The junior students scored significantly higher on the PAS than seniors. Most students of all the groups disagreed with the item "I don't see why I should learn communication skills". Approximately one-quarter of the students of each group endorsed the statement "Nobody is going to fail their medical degree for having poor communication skills". Out of the students who have undergone formal communication training, almost one-third agreed that they find it difficult to take communication skills learning seriously. Although medical students seem to have realized the importance of communication skills training for the practice of medicine, a significant minority have reservations on attending such sessions. Sri Lanka faculty will need to make a concerted effort to change this attitude through improving teaching and assessment strategies.

Glycemic Control and Its Determinants among Patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Attending a Teaching Hospital

Instruments Six questionnaires were used to collect the necessary information about factors that might affect the glycemic control. The first questionnaire sought information about socio-demographic and relevant characteristics including age, gender, and onset and duration of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Information related to patient’s self-care behaviors and other variables that may influence an individual’s ability and willingness to provide diabetes self-care were collected using different questionnaires including: Diabetes Knowledge Test questionnaire [14], Attitude Toward Diabetes Scale (Positive Attitude Scale and Negative Attitude Scale) [15], Family and Friends’ Support Scale [15], Long-Term Care Benefits Scale [15], and Self-Care Adherence Scale of the Diabetes Care Profile (DCP) [15]. In this study a symmetrical back-translation method was used to translate all study questionnaires. Higher scores on the Diabetes Knowledge Test questionnaire indicate higher levels of patient’s knowledge about diabetes and its care. A higher score on the Positive Attitude Scale indicate that the patient would have positive coping in dealing with type 2 diabetes mellitus on a daily basis. High scores on the Negative Attitude Scale indicate perception of more maladaptation of the patient toward the diabetes and its treatment. Higher scores on the Family and Friends’ Support Scale indicate the patients’ perception of more family and friends’ support about diabetes and its management. A higher score on the Long- Term Care Benefits Scale indicates that the patient’s health beliefs were directed toward a positive outlook on recommended health regimens of type 2 diabetes mellitus in preventing or delay. A higher score of Self – Care Adherence Scale indicates the patients were compliant with recommended health regimens most of the time (see the appendix for some of the questions on the questionnaires). Laboratory and anthropometric measurements

Exploring the Components of Positivity among Adult Koreans： Development and Validation of a Positive Attitude Scale

Exploring the Components of Positivity among Adult Koreans： Development and Validation of a Positive Attitude Scale

高齢者における食からみたＱＯＬ指標としての食行動・食態度の積極性尺度の開発

The purpose of the study is to examine the reliability and the validity of a scale on positive dietary behavior and diet-related attitude (Positive Dietary Behavior & Attitude Scale: PDBA Scale) among the elderly for diet-related quality of life. The PDBA Scale has 3 subscales, which indicate social aspect, personal aspect, and subjective evaluation. Four hundreds and eight subjects, 65 to 85 years old, living in M town in Saitama Prefecture, answered the questionnaire, which consists of dietary behaviors and die-related attitudes, QOL, health behaviors, and socio-demographic factors. QOL was assessed by three indices, such as Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (TMIG) index of competence as an index of individual status, social integration score as an index of social environmental factors, and the Morale scale as an index of subjective evaluation. Results obtained were as follows:1. Twenty items of dietary behavior and diet related attitudes were selected for the PDBA Scale by means of principal component analysis. 10 items were selected for social aspect, 5 items for personal aspect, and 5 items for subjective evaluation respectively.2. Scores on PDBA Scale (PDBA Score) were calculated on the 4 degree of twenty items; from the most positive = 3, to the least positive = 0. The total means of score was 32.1 (maximum 60), and the means in females was significantly higher than that in males.3. Reliability: Cronbach's a-coefficient was 0.86 with a high internal consistency. a-coefficients were 0.87 for social aspect, 0.76 for personal aspect, and 0.85 for subjective evaluation respectively.4. Validity: High content validity was found by the relationship between the PDBA Score and food frequency score. Partial correlation coefficients between the PDBA Score and each of three indices of QOL, adjusted for age and sex, were all significant, 0.544 for TMIG index of competence, 0.588 for social integration score, 0.347 for Morale scale respectively. They indicated a high criterion-related validity. It was recognized that the PDBA Scale was an effective index for diet-related QOL amongthe elderly. The results also suggested that the PDBA Scale could be an effective index for the evaluation of nutrition education.

Exploratory study to evaluate staff attitudes towards geriatric psychiatry.

This work is part of a larger study carried out at the Murray Royal and Murthly Hospitals within the Tayside Health District. The survey was concerned with staff attitudes towards geriatric psychiatry patients and shows that the nurses in these peripheral hospitals hold a positive attitude towards this area of nursing. These findings appear to contradict the popular opinion held throughout the nursing service, that the geriatric psychiatry nursing area is very unpopular with trained, untrained and learner nurses. In the study by Hooper [Nursing Times (1981) 77 37-40/43-44], anxiety levels among learners towards the geriatric nursing areas were found to be very high. This appears to correlate with Kogan [Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology (1961) 62, 616-622], which summarized is as follows: Young subjects were imputed to have a more consistently negative view of old people.' By using a series of two precoded questionnaires that the subjects completed, an overview of staff attitudes towards the geriatric psychiatry areas was obtained. The hypothesis on which the study was based was as follows: that a negative view towards geriatric psychiatry would be found among the staff of the Murray Royal and Murthly Hospitals.' However, the findings of this study did not support the hypothesis on any counts and gave a highly positive attitude scale.