Table 4.
Proportion of students who replied ‘agree or strongly agree’ to survey items
| n | % | |
| If I had a mentally ill relative, I wouldn’t want anyone to know. | 213 | 22.7 |
| Most of my friends would see me as being weak if they thought that I had a mental illness. | 330 | 35.1 |
| I would be very embarrassed if I were diagnosed as having a mental illness. | 434 | 46.2 |
| Mentally ill people scare me. | 211 | 22.5 |
| I would cross the street if I saw a mentally ill person coming to avoid passing him/her. | 126 | 13.4 |
| Think that mentally ill people are strange and weird. | 132 | 14 |
| I think that there really isn’t anything called mental illness; some people are just different. | 280 | 29.8 |
| Schools and parents are mostly responsible for making people mentally ill. | 169 | 18 |
| I think that society makes up the diagnosis of mental illness just to control people. | 98 | 10.4 |
| I think that you could catch mental illness from another person. | 33 | 3.5 |
| I sometimes worry that I may have a mental illness. | 330 | 35.1 |
| Mentally ill people can get well if they are treated with love and kindness. | 586 | 62.3 |
| There are medications now that can cure mental illness. | 322 | 34.3 |
| People who are mentally ill could be well if they tried hard enough. | 315 | 33.5 |
| If a relative of mine became mentally ill, I know that I could convince them to get well. | 265 | 28.2 |
| I can’t see myself hanging out with a mentally ill person. | 191 | 20.3 |
| Mentally ill people are easy to spot. | 186 | 19.8 |
| If you become mentally ill your life is pretty much over. | 103 | 11 |
| I don’t think there is any way that I can become mentally ill. | 122 | 13 |
| Eating the wrong things or taking drugs can make you mentally ill. | 283 | 30.1 |
| Mentally ill people tend to be more violent than other people. | 224 | 23.8 |
| I would be upset if someone with a mental illness always set next to me in class. | 137 | 14.6 |
| I would not be close friends with someone I knew had a mental illness. | 140 | 14.9 |
| I would visit a classmate in hospital if they had a mental illness. | 786 | 83.6 |
| I would try to avoid someone with a mental illness. | 149 | 15.9 |
| I would not mind it if someone with a mental illness lived next door to me. | 604 | 64.3 |
| If I knew someone had a mental illness I would not date them. | 366 | 38.9 |
| I would not want to be taught by a teacher who had been treated for a mental illness. | 150 | 16 |
| I would tell a teacher if a student was being bullied because of their mental illness. | 842 | 89.6 |
| I would stick up for someone who had a mental illness if they were being teased. | 822 | 87.5 |
| I would tutor a classmate who got behind on their studies because of their mental illness. | 736 | 78.3 |
| I would volunteer my time to work in a programme for people with a mental illness. | 490 | 52.1 |