Attitudes toward Mental Disorder among College Students in the United States, Pakistan, and the Philippines

Abstract

A 69-item questionnaire pertaining to attitudes toward mental disorder was administered to large college student samples in the United States, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Correlations between samples of item means indicated that, while the three samples were in general agreement across items, the Pakistani and Filipino samples were more similar in their responses. The Pakistani sample was least homogeneous in attitudes. Analysis of responses to individual items indicated that, on most items, the United States and Pakistani samples were most different from each other, with the Filipinos in the middle. Many of the Pakistani and Filipino responses could be interpreted in terms of superstition and lack of information, but many of the same responses are firmly rooted in the culture involved. It is by no means evident that the better-informed U.S. sample was invariably more "correct" and constructive in its attitudes.

Bio-Medical versus Indigenous Approaches to Disability

“…As Serpell et al (1993) rightly note, this support system within the family and local community is evidenced in child rearing practices and customary education in Africa. A similar support system has been noted in Asia and Latin America (Sechrest et al 1973) and among North American Indians (LeFrance 1994).…”

Disability in Different Cultures

“…As rightly note, this support system within the family and local community is evidenced in child rearing practices and customary education in Africa. A similar support system has been noted in Asia and Latin America (Sechrest et al 1973) and among North American Indians (LeFrance 1994).…”

Personality research in a non-Western culture: The Philippines.

“…For example, Filipinos agreed most with the idea that mental health can be maintained by depending on strong people in the environment and that "the good psychiatrist acts like a father to his patients." Sechrest et al (1973) found considerable agreement but also some differences in the mental health attitudes of U.S. college students and Philippine and Pakistani bilinguals. Sample items endorsed by Pakistanis, Filipinos, and U.S. students, in decreasing amounts, were attributing mental disorder to sorcery or evil spirits, viewing mental patients as dangerous and unfit, being pessimistic about recovery, and perceiving a hereditary basis for disorders.…”

“…Similarly, a Filipino tendency to say yes rather than no can confound questionnaire surveys. Sechrest, Fay, Zaidi, and Flores (1973) and Arkoff, Thaver, and Elkind (1966), who found a greater tendency among Americans to disagree with questionnaire items than among Filipinos, have provided empirical support for such response tendencies. Hare (1969) found that Filipinos gave higher ratings of satisfaction with experimental participation than did several other cultural groups.…”