The Library
A study of psychiatrists’ concepts of mental illness
Tools
Harland, Robert T., Antonova, E. (Elena), Owen, Gareth S., Broome, Matthew R., Landau, Sabine, Deeley, Quinton and Murray, Robin, MD, M Phil, MRCP, MRC Psych (2009) A study of psychiatrists’ concepts of mental illness. Psychological Medicine, Vol.39 (No.6). pp. 967-976. doi:10.1017/S0033291708004881 ISSN 0033-2917.
PDF
WRAP_Broome_psychiatrist_concepts.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (141Kb) |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291708004881
Abstract
Background: There are multiple models of mental illness that inform professional and lay understanding. Few studies have formally investigated psychiatrists' attitudes. We aimed to measure how a group of trainee psychiatrists understand familiar mental illnesses in terms of propositions drawn from different models.
Method: We used a questionnaire study of a sample of trainees from South London and Maudsley National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust designed to assess attitudes across eight models of mental illness (e.g. biological, psychodynamic) and four psychiatric disorders. Methods for analysing repeated measures and a principal components analysis (PCA) were used.
Results: No one model was endorsed by all respondents. Model endorsement varied with disorder. Attitudes to schizophrenia were expressed with the greatest conviction across models. Overall, the ‘biological’ model was the most strongly endorsed. The first three components of the PCA (interpreted as dimensions around which psychiatrists, as a group, understand mental illness) accounted for 56% of the variance. Each main component was classified in terms of its distinctive combination of statements from different models: PC1 33% biological versus non-biological; PC2 12% ‘eclectic’ (combining biological, behavioural, cognitive and spiritual models); and PC3 10% psychodynamic versus sociological.
Conclusions: Trainee psychiatrists are most committed to the biological model for schizophrenia, but in general are not exclusively committed to any one model. As a group, they organize their attitudes towards mental illness in terms of a biological/non-biological contrast, an ‘eclectic’ view and a psychodynamic/sociological contrast. Better understanding of how professional group membership influences attitudes may facilitate better multidisciplinary working.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology | ||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Mental Health and Wellbeing Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Psychiatrists -- Attitudes, Mental health personnel -- Great Britain, Mental illness -- Public opinion -- Great Britain, Questionnaires -- Great Britain | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Psychological Medicine | ||||
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||
ISSN: | 0033-2917 | ||||
Official Date: | June 2009 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Volume: | Vol.39 | ||||
Number: | No.6 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 967-976 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1017/S0033291708004881 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
Funder: | Institute of Social Psychiatry (ISP) |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year