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. 2023 Dec;31(6):734-740.
doi: 10.1177/10398562231202119. Epub 2023 Sep 19.

Stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness: A cross-sectional survey of Australian medical students

Annora Ai-Wei Kumar  1 , Zhao Feng Liu  2 , Jessica Han  3 , Sasha Patil  4 , Lucy Tang  5 , Paul McGurgan  6   7 , Osvaldo P Almeida  8
Affiliations

Stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness: A cross-sectional survey of Australian medical students

Annora Ai-Wei Kumar et al. Australas Psychiatry. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to assess the degree of stigmatizing attitudes and psychological distress amongst Australian medical students in order to better understand factors that may impact help-seeking behaviours of students. We hypothesize that sociodemographic factors will not significantly predict stigmatizing attitudes, and increasing levels of psychological distress will be associated with increasing stigma.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed to medical students at Western Australian universities and members of the Australian Medical Students' Association. Stigma was scored using the Mental Illness Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA-2) scale. Psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Participants provided information about gender, age, spirituality, financial hardship, treatment for mental illness, and experience in psychiatry.

Results: There were 598 responses. The mean (Standard Deviation) MICA-2 score was 36.8 (7.5) out of a maximum of 96, and the mean (SD) HADS depression score was 4.7 (3.7). The mean (SD) HADS anxiety score was 9.3 (4.4). Past or current treatment for a mental illness was associated with lower MICA-2 scores. There was no association between MICA-2 and HADS scores, or sociodemographic factors.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate relatively low MICA-2 scores and high HADS-A scores overall, with no association between HADS scores and stigma.

Keywords: medical education; medical student; psychiatry; stigma.

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Conflict of interest statement

DisclosureThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow chart of survey responses.
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