1 Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul, Korea.
2 Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2017 Sep;63(6):518-524. doi: 10.1177/0020764017717283. Epub 2017 Jun 29.
Lay beliefs about schizophrenia are an important factor associated with treatment-seeking behavior.
This study was conducted to investigate the lay beliefs about the causes and treatments of schizophrenia in South Korea.
A total of 654 adults (mean age, 35.96 ± 11.33 years) completed two questionnaires assessing their views on the causes and cures of schizophrenia. The factor structures of lay beliefs about the causes and treatments of schizophrenia were then analyzed and the correlations between the resultant factors investigated.
From the cause items, four factors were extracted: Health/Lifestyle, God/Fate, Social/Environmental and Biological. Four factors were also extracted from the treatment items: Self-Help/Stress Management, Physical Treatment/Health Management, Religious Help and Mental Health Service Utilization. Notably, most participants believed that items in the Social/Environmental and Biological factors were the causes of schizophrenia, while they believed that items in the Mental Health Service Utilization and Self-Help/Stress Management factors were the treatments. Participants' beliefs about the causes and treatments of schizophrenia were systematically correlated.
Overall, laypeople have reasonably accurate beliefs and a multidimensional view of the causes and treatments of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, our results suggest that public education about the etiology and treatment of schizophrenia are necessary to increase actual usage of mental health services and treatments for schizophrenia.
公众对精神分裂症的看法是与寻求治疗行为相关的一个重要因素。
本研究旨在调查韩国公众对精神分裂症病因和治疗方法的看法。
共有 654 名成年人（平均年龄，35.96±11.33 岁）完成了两份评估他们对精神分裂症病因和治疗看法的问卷。然后分析了对精神分裂症病因和治疗的看法的公众信念的因素结构，并研究了由此产生的因素之间的相关性。
从病因项目中，提取出四个因素：健康/生活方式、上帝/命运、社会/环境和生物。从治疗项目中也提取出四个因素：自助/压力管理、身体治疗/健康管理、宗教帮助和心理健康服务利用。值得注意的是，大多数参与者认为社会/环境和生物因素中的项目是精神分裂症的病因，而他们认为心理健康服务利用和自助/压力管理因素中的项目是治疗方法。参与者对精神分裂症病因和治疗的看法存在系统相关性。
总的来说，公众对精神分裂症的病因和治疗有合理准确的信念和多维的看法。然而，我们的结果表明，有必要对精神分裂症的病因和治疗进行公众教育，以增加对精神卫生服务和精神分裂症治疗的实际使用。
