Table 3.
Recognition of the Vignettes by Professional Groups and the General Public: Proportion of Respondents Holding the Person Described in the Case Vignette as Having a “Mental Illness” (95% CI)
| Type of Vignette |
|||
| Group | Schizophrenia n = 471 | Major Depression n = 639 | Non-Case n = 126 |
| Psychiatrists (n = 202) | 100 (93.7–100) | 92.2 (84.8–96.8)b | 26.3 (7.7–54.4) |
| Psychologists (n = 64) | 100 (84.5–100) | 86.7 (66.7–97.0)b | 25.0 (2.2–69.4) |
| Nurses (n = 673) | 94.9 (90.8–97.6) | 65.1 (59.2–70.8) | 17.4 (9.3–28.6) |
| Other Therapistsd (n = 115) | 97.9 (87.2–100) | 63.6 (47.7–77.7) | 7.7 (0.1–40.1) |
| General Public (n = 182) | 72.3 (60.7–82.1)a | 45.4 (33.4–57.9)c | —e |
The public held the described person in the schizophrenia vignette as having a mental illness significantly less often than each professional group (p < .01).
Psychiatrists and psychologists recognized the description of a person suffering from major depression as having a mental illness significantly more often than nurses and other therapists (p < .05).
The public recognized the major depression description as a mental illness significantly less often than each professional group (p < .05).
Other therapists include vocational workers, social workers, and physiotherapists.
The non-case vignette was not presented in the public survey.