Attitudes toward Mental Disorder among College Students in the United States, Pakistan, and the Philippines

Abstract

A 69-item questionnaire pertaining to attitudes toward mental disorder was administered to large college student samples in the United States, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Correlations between samples of item means indicated that, while the three samples were in general agreement across items, the Pakistani and Filipino samples were more similar in their responses. The Pakistani sample was least homogeneous in attitudes. Analysis of responses to individual items indicated that, on most items, the United States and Pakistani samples were most different from each other, with the Filipinos in the middle. Many of the Pakistani and Filipino responses could be interpreted in terms of superstition and lack of information, but many of the same responses are firmly rooted in the culture involved. It is by no means evident that the better-informed U.S. sample was invariably more "correct" and constructive in its attitudes.