Evaluation of the effect of education on the stigmatization of mental illness for psychology students

Objective: Stigmatization of mental disorders commonly affects help-seeking behavior and adherence to treatment negatively in many fields. Not only responses by the society, but also attitudes and behaviors of professionals working with mental diseases are very important for the wellbeing of mental patients. As some studies have shown, there is a positive relationship between education and stigmatization. However, psychology of education has not been examined in this respect. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the impact of stigmatization on mental illness psychology training.

Methods: The sample includes 88 students from the first year of a psychology program and 88 students that graduated from a psychology department in Istanbul, a total of 176 individuals. The Belief Scale Toward People with Mental Illness and Personnel Information Form was used in the study. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 program, Kolmogorov - Smirnov distribution test, Pearson’s ChiSquare test and Fisher’s Exact test, Independent samples t test, One way ANOVA test and Bonferroni or LSD test were used.

Results: Stigmatization scores of first-year psychology students were higher than those found in graduates. There was no significant difference between attitudes about participants receive training in psychotherapy and the need for psychological support, economic status, place of residence. There was a significant difference between attitudes towards mental illness and gender, marital status, encountering with individuals that have mental illness.

Conclusion: As a result, psychology training on negative attitudes and beliefs towards mental disorders is efficacious, and increasing the education level decreases stigmatization.