Australian Occupational Therapy Students: Attitudes towards and Knowledge about Psychiatry

Abstract

This study examined attitudes towards psychiatry, prior knowledge about psychiatry and trait anxiety in preclinical Australian occupational therapy students. At the time of the study, students were anticipating their first clinical placement in psychiatry. Instruments used in the study were the Attitudes Towards Psychiatry – 30 Scale (ATP-30), the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF), and a demographic data sheet looking at background information on students which asked the question: ‘When you started the occupational therapy course, did you expect to have anything to do with psychiatry?’ The results showed that, while students reported positive attitudes towards psychiatry, a high percentage of students (In particular, the trait anxious student) had not been aware that psychiatry was part of the undergraduate education in occupational therapy. These findings suggest that the trait anxious student may not be able to assimilate knowledge in a new experience, and that the profile of the occupational therapist working in mental health needs to be enhanced.