Impact of newspaper articles on attitudes toward people with mental disorders

Abstract

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati efekte oblikovanja informacija u novinskim člancima i spola sudionika na stavove prema osobama sa psihičkim poremećajima. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 272 studenta (136 muškog i 136 ženskog spola) koji su bili po slučaju podijeljeni u 4 skupine. Skupine su se razlikovale prema vrsti novinskog članka kojeg su čitale; Eksperimentalna skupina 1 – stigmatizirajući članak, Eksperimentalna skupina 2 – edukacijski članak, Eksperimentalna skupina 3 – senzibilizirajući članak i Kontrolna skupina. Nakon čitanja članka, sudionici su ispunjavali Upitnik stavova prema psihičkim poremećajima (Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness Scale – CAMI; Taylor i Dear; 1981), koji mjeri 4 dimenzije stavova prema psihičkim poremećajima; Socijalna ograničenja, Autoritarnost, Benevolentnost i Ideologija u zajednici utemeljene rehabilitacije. Dvosmjerne analize varijance (spol x skupina) pokazale su višu Autoritarnost u Eksperimentalnoj skupini 3 nego 2, te višu Benevolentnost kod studentica nego kod studenata. Efekti interakcija spola i skupine bili su značajni samo za Benevolentnost i Socijalna ograničenja. Za Benevolentnost, pokazalo se da studentice imaju više rezultate u Eksperimentalnim skupinama 2 i 3 od studenata, dok se Eksperimentalna skupina 1 i Kontrolna skupina ne razlikuju po spolu. Za Socijalna ograničenja pokazalo se da studenti imaju više rezultate u Eksperimentalnim skupinama 2 i 3, te niže rezultate u Kontrolnoj skupini od studentica. Nisu se pokazali značajni efekti skupine, spola niti njihove interakcije na Ideologiju u zajednici utemeljene rehabilitacije. Rezultati sugeriraju da oblikovanje informacija u novinskim člancima ima učinka na stavove prema psihičkim poremećajima, te da spol moderira te učinke, barem što se tiče Benevolentnosti i Socijalnih ograničenja.The aim of this research was to examine the effects of information framing in newspaper articles and gender of participant on attitudes towards persons with mental disorders. The study involved 272 students (136 men and 136 female gender), who were divided into 4 groups. The groups differed in the type of newspaper article they had read; Experimental group 1 - stigmatizing article, Experimental group 2 - educational article, Experimental group 3 - sensibilizing article and Control group. The participants were given the Questionnaire of attitudes towards mental disorders (Attitudes of the community towards mental illness - CAMI, Taylor and Dear, 1981), which measures 4 dimensions of attitudes towards mental disorders; Social Restrictivenesss, Autoritarianism, Benevolence and Community Mental Health Ideology. Two-way Anova analysis of variance (sex x group) showed more Authoritarianism in Experimental group 3 than group 2, and more Benevolence in female students than in male students. The effects of gender and group interaction were significant only for Benevolence and Social restrictiveness. For Benevolence, it has been shown that female students have more results in Experimental Groups 2 and 3 than male students, while Experimental group 1 and Control group do not differ by gender. For Social Restrictiveness, it has been shown that male students have higher results in Experimental Groups 2 and 3, and lower results in the Student Control group than the female students. No significant effects of the group, gender or their interactions for Community Mental Health Ideology factor are shown. The results suggest that the formatting of information in newspaper articles has an effect on attitudes towards mental disorders, and that sex moderates these effects, at least as far as Benevolence and Social Restrictiveness are concerned