Public beliefs about causes and risk factors for depression and schizophrenia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to carry out a national survey to assess the Australian public's beliefs about causes and risk factors for mental disorders. A national household survey of 2031 Australian adults was carried out. Half the respondents were presented with a vignette describing a person with major depression and the other half with a vignette describing schizophrenia. Respondents were asked to rate whether various factors are likely causes of problems such as that described in the vignette and to rate whether various groups are at higher or lower risk. For depression, social environmental factors were often seen as likely causes, which is consistent with the epidemiological evide..