Pescosolido Bernice A, Fettes Danielle L, Martin Jack K, Monahan John, McLeod Jane D
Department of Sociology, Indiana University, 1020 E. Kirkwood Ave., Ballantine Hall 744, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Psychiatr Serv. 2007 May;58(5):619-25. doi: 10.1176/ps.2007.58.5.619.
This study examined the public's beliefs regarding the potential for harm to self and others and the public's willingness to invoke coercive or legal means to ensure treatment of children.
Using data from the National Stigma Study-Children (NSS-C), which presented vignettes to 1,152 individuals, the investigators compared public perceptions of the dangerousness of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depression, asthma, and "daily troubles." Multivariate analyses were used to examine the predictors of perceptions of dangerousness and the willingness to support legally enforced treatment of these conditions.
Children with ADHD and children with major depression were perceived (by 33% and 81% of the sample, respectively) as somewhat likely or very likely to be dangerous to themselves or others, compared with children with asthma (15%) or those with "daily troubles" (13%). Over one-third of the sample (35%) were willing to use legal means to force children with depression to see a clinician. However, even more (42%) endorsed forced treatment for a child with asthma. Furthermore, individuals who labeled the child as "mentally ill" were approximately twice as likely to report a potential for violence and five times as likely to support forced treatment.
Large numbers of people in the United States link children's mental health problems, particularly depression, to a potential for violence and support legally mandated treatment. These evaluations appear to reflect the stigma associated with mental illness and the public's concern for parental responsibility.
本研究调查了公众对于儿童自我伤害及伤害他人可能性的看法，以及公众为确保儿童接受治疗而采用强制或法律手段的意愿。
利用全国儿童污名研究（NSS-C）的数据，该研究向1152人展示了一些情景描述，研究人员比较了公众对患有注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）、重度抑郁症、哮喘和“日常烦恼”的儿童危险性的看法。采用多变量分析来检验危险性认知的预测因素以及支持对这些疾病进行法律强制治疗的意愿。
与患有哮喘的儿童（15%）或有“日常烦恼”的儿童（13%）相比，患有ADHD的儿童和患有重度抑郁症的儿童（分别占样本的33%和81%）被认为有点可能或非常可能对自己或他人构成危险。超过三分之一的样本（35%）愿意使用法律手段迫使患有抑郁症的儿童去看临床医生。然而，甚至更多的人（42%）支持对患有哮喘的儿童进行强制治疗。此外，将儿童标记为“患有精神疾病”的人报告暴力可能性的几率大约是其他人的两倍，支持强制治疗的可能性是其他人的五倍。
在美国，大量民众将儿童的心理健康问题，尤其是抑郁症，与暴力可能性联系起来，并支持法律规定的治疗。这些评价似乎反映了与精神疾病相关的污名以及公众对父母责任的关注。
