To assess attitudes toward chronically and acutely mentally and physically ill individuals, 106 undergraduates read one of four vignettes describing a hospitalized individual, with each vignette divided along the factors of diagnosis (schizophrenia or cancer) and chronicity (acute or chronic). Then they completed the Community Acceptance Scale and responded to 19 rationally derived paired adjectives. A series of 2 × 2 univariate analyses indicated that individuals with diagnoses of schizophrenia were viewed significantly more pejoratively than individuals with diagnoses of cancer. Similarly, individuals with chronic courses of treatment were viewed significantly more negatively than individuals with acute courses of treatment. Surprisingly, however, no univariate interactions reached statistical significance. Findings suggest that the lack of acceptance of the chronically mentally ill individual is a function of the devaluation associated with psychiatric diagnosis.
HIV risk reduction for the seriously mentally ill: Pilot investigation and call for research