Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Προαγωγή ψυχικής υγείας - Πρόληψη ψυχιατρικών διαταραχώνLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Supervisors info:
Οικονόμου Μαρίνα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κόλλιας Κωνσταντίνος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Λαζαράτου Ελένη, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Στάσεις των επαγγελματιών ψυχικής υγείας απέναντι στη ψυχική νόσο: ο ρόλος της ενσυναίσθησης
Translated title:
Attitudes of mental health professionals towards mental illness: the role of empathy
Summary:
The stigma surrounding mental illness affects the attitudes and the opinions of mental health professionals. Over the recent years, research has focused on investigating those traits (e.g. the empathy) of mental health professionals which contribute to fighting against mental health stigma. The present study focuses on the role of empathy in reducing any stigmatizing attitudes in the mental health professionals of the two psychiatric hospitals of Athens. The sample has been drawn from 127 professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and nurses) who responded to a self-completion questionnaire, which includes demographic characteristics, the ASMI scale for measuring the attitudes towards severe mental illness, the Social Distance scale for measuring the preferred social distance and the Interpersonal Reactivity index for measuring the degree of empathy. The participants seemed to have positive attitudes towards severe mental illness and do not desire any social distance, with the exception of more personal relationships, such as entering into marriage with a person who suffers from mental illness. In addition, the levels of empathy were high. Among the aforementioned specialists, the psychologists and the social workers seemed to have more positive attitudes and higher levels of empathy. The analyses showed that there is a positive correlation between the cognitive and emotional empathy and the attitudes towards severe mental illness, but also a negative one in terms of desired social distance, while cognitive empathy is the factor which can change both the attitudes and the desired social distance of mental health professionals. In conclusion, empathy can contribute to fighting against the stigma of mental illness and has to be one of the fundamental elements of the interventions against stigma.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Stigma, Attitudes towards severe mental illness, Social distance, Mental health professionals, Empathy, Stigma reduction
Number of references:
102
