ATTITUDES TO PSYCHIATRY AMONG SWEDISH AND NICARAGUAN MEDICAL-STUDENTS- A CROSS-CULTURAL-STUDY

Attitudes to psychiatry were examined with the self-report questionnai re APT-30 among 60 Swedish and 130 Nicaraguan medical students who had entered the curriculum in psychiatry. There was a slight female domin ance (54%). Nicaraguan students were from two different university sit es. In general, the students from all sites had higher scores, indicat ing a more positive attitude, on the ATP-30 than has been reported fro m earlier studies in the 1980s. There were no cross-cultural differenc es between Swedish and Nicaraguan students with regard to overall atti tude to psychiatry. Differences on subscales were in general small. Ni caraguan students expressed a significantly more positive attitude to psychiatric patients, but there were no cross-cultural differences on other subscales. Having a close relative with a mental disorder or bei ng a religious person did not significantly influence attitudes in any university site. Gender was a clear discriminating factor. Female stu dents had a significantly more positive overall attitude to psychiatry . Of altogether nine students (4%) who strongly agreed they would like to be a psychiatrist, seven were women.