Table 2.

The public’s perception of the stigma attached to former mental patients in Tianjin^a

Items	Agree (%)	Not sure (%)	Disagree (%)
1. Most people would willingly accept a former mental patient as a close friend	43.3	11.7	44.9
2. Most people believe that a person who has been in a mental hospital is just as intelligent as the average person	47.7	13.0	39.3
3. Most people believe that a former mental patient is just as trustworthy as the average citizen	47.0	13.9	39.1
4. Most people would accept a fully recovered former mental patient as a teacher of young children in a public school	31.9	13.0	55.1
5. Most people feel that entering a mental hospital is a sign of personal failure (R)	16.0	14.8	69.2
6. Most people would not hire a former mental patient to take care of their children, even if he or she had been well for some time (R)	68.2	8.2	23.6
7. Most people think less of a person who has been in a mental hospital (R)	28.4	9.2	62.4
8. Most employers will hire a former mental patient if he or she is qualified for the job	43.7	17.0	39.3
9. Most employers will pass over the application of a former mental patient in favor of another applicant (R)	54.9	13.6	31.5
10. Most people in my community would treat a former mental patient just as they could treat anyone	65.7	16.7	17.5
11. Most young women would be reluctant to date a man who has been hospitalized for a serious mental disorder (R)	70.6	14.0	15.4
12. Once they know a person was in a mental hospital, most people will take his opinions less seriously (R)	55.3	14.5	30.2

Note: Respondents who endorsed the two points on either side of the mid-point of the five-point scales (values 1 + 2 and 4 + 5) were grouped together to the categories ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’

R Reversed item;

^aPercentages were calculated after weighting