ATTITUDES TOWARDS MENTAL-ILLNESS - TESTING THE CONTACT HYPOTHESIS AMONG CHINESE STUDENT NURSES IN HONG-KONG

This study investigated whether previous contact with mental illness a ffected the attitudes to mental illness (AMI) of general student nurse s in Hong Kong-the contact hypothesis. We employed a quasi-experimenta l design. We compared the attitudes to mental illness of students who had previous contact with mental illness through having taken a psychi atric secondment with those who had not taken a psychiatric secondment . Also, we compared the AMI of: students who had taken other courses r elated to mental illness with those who had not; those who had a famil y history of mental illness with those who had not; and those who live d with a mentally ill relative with those who did not. We found that p revious contact with mental illness had no significant effect on the a ttitudes to mental illness of the students. In other words our finding s do not support the contact hypothesis. Our sample expressed positive general attitudes to mental illness when presented with general issue s about mental illness. However, their attitudes were less positive wh en presented with specific issues about mental illness that might impi nge upon their daily lives, We discuss the implications of these findi ngs for mental health nursing practice, education and research.