Effects of a Mental Hygiene Course on Graduate Education Students’ Attitudes and Opinions Concerning Mental Illness

Abstract

The Opinions About Mental Illness Scale was administered at the beginning and end of the semester to five classes in "Mental Hygiene for Teachers" (70 men, 80 women) and to five control classes in education (74 men, 71 women). Four attitudes and one opinion factor were measured: Authoritarianism, Benevolence, Mental Hygiene Ideology, Social Restrictiveness, and Interpersonal Etiology. Analysis of covariance revealed that compared with control groups: (a) mental hygiene women become significantly less authoritarian (p<.05); (b) mental hygiene men and women made significantly greater increases (<.01) in the opinion that unhealthy interpersonal relationships early in life contribute to mental illness. Changes were not significantly correlated with age (p>.05), and were similar to those discovered in a previous study of abnormal psychology students.