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INTRODUCTION: This study intends to investigate the factors affecting the belief towards mental illness and social distance in secondary education teachers. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in high schools in Aydın, Turkey. High schools in Aydın were divided into separate strata according to school types; and the number of teachers to be selected from each school was determined using the G-Power statistics program and the number of teachers in the study sample was calculated to be 331.Data was collected using the Belief Towards Mental Illness Scale and Social Distance Scale. RESULTS: 24.3 % of the teachers in the study reported that they know somebody with a mental illness in their immediate circles and 9.4% had psychiatric support in the past. According to the teachers' reports,65.7% of the teachers believed that genetic predisposition,73.9% stressful life events,44.4% interpersonal relationships,72.9% domestic violence, 58.9% domestic conflicts, 55.3% personal weaknesses,68.4% traumatic life events, 14.6% infectious diseases, 23.4% religious belief and 11.7 % supernatural powers cause mental illnesses. The study found that the teachers who know people with mental illnesses in their immediate circles had lower social distance scores compared to those who do not know (t=-.901;p=0.004). Additionally a moderate level of positive relationship was found between the Belief Towards Mental Illness Scale score and Social Distance Scale score(r=0.502;p=0.000). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Based on this data, having someone with a mental illness in the immediate circle has a positive effect on the person's perspective for mental illnesses and social distance toward patients increases as the belief towards mental illness become more negative. In order to ensure that people with mental illnesses live in a society with no stigmatization and discrimination, it is important to raise awareness and improve knowledge promoting positive attitude towards mental illnesses in the society. Therefore it is important to increase the knowledge and awareness among teachers. |
