精神科 敎育이 精神障碍에 對한 態度에 미치는 影響

The Effect of Psychiatric Education upon the Attitudes toward Mental Disorder

The attitudes toward mental disorder were investigated as a function of psychiatric education in order to determine which of them and in which direction they were changed by the increase of information and exposure to mental patients. The subjects were 1st year and 3rd year nursing students as experimental groups and nonnursing students of the same grade as control groups. None of the subjects except the 3rd year nursing students had psychiatric formal lecture and mental hospital experience. The attitudes toward mental disorder were measured by self-reporting questionnaire which contained eight case descriptions (mental retardation, epilepsy, acute psychosis, mania, depressive psychosis, process schizophrenia, depressive neurosis, alcoholism). The results are summarized as follows * Authoritative and restrictive attitudes in the management of psychotics were changed in the favorable direction by psychiatric education and experiences. Emotional fear toward psychotics as well as misconceptions about their violonce and excitement decreased as the students educated and exposed to psychiatry. However, the opinions about the psychotics* social judgement and their ability to live independent were not influenced by psychiatric education. Most of the impressions about mental disorder were not influenced by psychiatric education except changes in two adjective pairs (strong-weak, unpleasant-familiar) which showed changes in the weaker and less unpleasant direction. The ability to recognize mental disorder increased by psychiatric education in most of the mental cases presented, especially in the cases of mania, depressive psychosis and precess schizophrenia. However the opinions about the patients* marriage prospect, living at home and the ability to work became more pessimistic by psychiatric education.