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Stigma and attitudes towards mental illness: Gender differences in a sample of Italian medical students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

M. Pascucci ,
M. La Montagna ,
D. Di Sabatino ,
E. Stella ,
R. Nicastro ,
P. Grandinetti ,
R. Testa ,
P. Parente ,
L. Janiri  and
G. Pozzi
...Show all authors
M. Pascucci
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy Azienda Sanitaria Locale della Provincia di Foggia, Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, Foggia, Italy
M. La Montagna
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy
D. Di Sabatino
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy
E. Stella
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy
R. Nicastro
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy
P. Grandinetti
Affiliation:
AUSL Modena, Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, Modena, Italy Institute of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
R. Testa
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
P. Parente
Affiliation:
Section of Hygiene, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Public Health, Rome, Italy
L. Janiri
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
G. Pozzi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Neuroscience, Rome, Italy
G. Piemontese
Affiliation:
Azienda Sanitaria Locale della Provincia di Foggia, Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, Foggia, Italy
A. Ventriglio
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy Azienda Sanitaria Locale della Provincia di Foggia, Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, Foggia, Italy
A. Bellomo
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Foggia, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Foggia, Italy Azienda Sanitaria Locale della Provincia di Foggia, Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, Foggia, Italy

Abstract

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Introduction

stigma in mental illness is characterized by discrimination towards people affected by mental disorder. Consequence of the paradigm “stigma-injury-discrimination” is the social exclusion of these patients and the denial of their rights. Medical students, those who should be important reference points for psychiatric patients, are instead one of the categories that contribute to their stigmatization.

Objectives

To study the attitudes of medical students towards psychiatric patients.

Aims

The present study analyzes gender differences in a sample of Italian medical students towards mental illness.

Methods

A total of 339 Italian medical students completed a cross-sectional survey, in Rome and Foggia (Italy). We used the Italian version of Community Attitude towards the Mentally Ill test (CAMI) to analyze the students’ attitudes.

Results

There is a substantial difference among the attitudes towards mental disorders in female and male students. Female students have obtained less stigmatizing results in 9 of the CAMI test items (P < 0.05), in Benevolence (P = 0.001) and Social Restrictiveness subscales (P = 0.043) and in the total score (P = 0.013).

Conclusions

These results are in line with those achieved in scientific literature, confirming that women tend to show more humanitarian attitude towards the mentally ill. Even in the original article of the validation of the CAMI test, the authors found better attitudes in women in all subscales, with the exception of Social Restrictiveness subscale (that in our analysis also correlates with the female gender).

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
e-Poster Viewing: Promotion of mental health
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 41 , Issue S1: Abstract of the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2017 , pp. S739
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2017
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