Views of Schizophrenia Among Future Healthcare Professionals: Differences in Relation to Diagnostic Labelling, Causal Explanations, and Type of Academic Degree Program.

Objective: Stereotyped beliefs about schizophrenia are well-established in the society and relatively common among healthcare professionals and students. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions about the causes, treatment, and outcome of schizophrenia among healthcare students. Method: Undergraduate nursing and psychology students completed selected items of the Opinion on Mental Illness Questionnaire after reading a clinical vignette of undiagnosed schizophrenia. Results: Students who labelled the description as schizophrenia were more pessimistic regarding full recovery from the disorder. Those who acknowledged greater relevance to biogenetic risk factors were more convinced…