Attitudes and Mental Health –
what the research tells us
“People with disabilities regularly identify societal
attitudes as the most potent and negative stressor
in their lives”
Voh 1993
Mary Van Lieshout
Head, Research and Standards Development
23 April 2010
The evidence base..
• Surveys commissioned by the
National Disability Authority
and undertaken by Statistical
Consulting, Dublin, in 2001, 2006.
• Int’l Review of Effective Strategies
to improve attitudes 2003
• NDA Literature Review on
Attitudes to Disability 2007
• National Disability Survey (CS0)
2006
• Red C survey (NDA) 2009
•Key design challenge in attitudes research: reduction of social desirability bias.
Have you got attitude?
Attitudes are relatively stable mental
positions held toward ideas, objects or
people;
Attitudes are a combination of beliefs and feelings that
predispose a person to behave a certain way;
Research focuses on attitude formation, change and
the circumstances in which attitudes predict behaviours;
Gender, age and range of cultural factors influence attitudes,
and evidence is of hierarchy of disability.
Some theories on negative attitudes
towards disability
• From early age we are socialised into thinking about
normal and not normal; bodies are pressured to conform
to an ideal; when peoples’ functioning or biological
composition does not fall within these standards, they are
deemed inferior and excluded (Devine, 1997)
• Vulnerability to illness and death are feared and
unconsciously that fear is projected onto people with
disability (Gleeson, 2006)
• People with disabilities commonly considered in need of
care, ‘pathetic figures in need of pity, charity’ (Funk, 1987)
Generally speaking..
• While negative attitudes to disability persist there is also
evidence that attitudes to disability are improving in
Ireland and worldwide
• There is a clear relationship between attitudes and
personal experience of disability as found in two national
studies by NDA
• When appropriate supports are provided employers
express positive attitudes toward workers with ID and
mental health difficulties
• While attitudes to disability are improving, positive
attitudes towards people with mental health problems lag
behind…
NDA surveys of public attitudes
Only 36% agreed that children with mental health
difficulties should be in the same school as other children.
21% would object if children with mental health difficulties
were in the same class as their child. (2006)
Only 7% of respondents thought employers were willing to
employ people with mental health difficulties. Respondents
also said they would be least comfortable having people
with mental health difficulties as work colleagues.
More people (17%) expressed levels of discomfort with
people with mental health difficulties living in the
neighbourhood than any other type of disability
How comfortable are you working
with people with disabilities?
Physical Impairment
8.85
Hearing Impairment
8.69
Visual Impairment
8.57
Intellectual disability
8.25
Mental health problem 7.10
1 – 10 Scale
1= uncomfortable 10 = Comfortable
Q7 Do you agree or disagree that people with the following disabilities
should attend the same school as children without disabilities?
Strongly
agree
Neither agree
nor disagree Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Agree
%
%
%
%
%
7
29
18
34
12
intellectual or
learning disabilities
11
45
15
24
5
•
physical disabilities
21
54
10
12
2
•
visual or hearing
disabilities
13
45
16
22
4
Total
•
•
mental health
difficulties
Same right to enjoy Sexual
Relationships?
• 90% agreed that people
with visual/hearing
impairments have the
same rights as others to
enjoy sexual relationships
• 87% agreed regarding
those with physical
disabilities
• 75% intellectual or
learning disabilities
•61% agreed for those with mental health difficulties
People with disabilities should have
children if they wish?
• 87 % agreed people with
visual/hearing
impairments should have
children
• 84% agreed re people
with physical disabilities
• 64% agreed for people
with intellectual/learning
impairments
% Adults who strongly disagree that those with
disabilities should have children if they wish…
30
25
Intellectual
disability
Mental Health
issue
Physical/sensory
20
15
10
5
0
2001
2006
(In 2006, less than half, ( 41% ) of respondents believed people with
mental health difficulties should have children)
63% of adults whose main disability was mental health experienced
difficulty in participation due to the attitudes of others compared to next
highest level among those with ID (49%) CSO 2006
• 26% of adults with mental health difficulties
experienced negative attitudes when
looking for work
• 11% encountered negative attitudes at work
• 4% encountered such attitudes at school
• 52% reported difficulties in ‘taking part in
community life’
• Around 25% of those with emotional, psychological
and mental health difficulties feel “most people can
be trusted” compared with an overall average of
32%
Adults with disability (%) who curtail their participation
due to negative attitudes of others (CSO 2010)
Main disability
Never Sometimes Frequently
/Always
Seeing
83
15
2
Hearing
79
16
4
Speech
61
32
8
Mobility and
Dexterity
80
14
4
Remembering..
73
21
7
Intellectual
62
28
10
Mental Health
55
28
17
Pain
82
13
5
Breathing
84
11
4
NDA work in this area ...
• Commitment to regular monitoring of public attitudes
• Research programme on quality in services for those with
mental health difficulties (recovery approach); suicide;
mental health and ethnicity;
• Partnership with BCI on research on representation of
people with disabilities in media
• Intensive focus in NDA on promoting employment of
people with disabilities: 3% target, leadership research,
collaboration with HSA on safe work environments
• Extensive work programme with all government
departments promoting inclusive and accessible public
services for people with disabilities
The answer? Multi-sectoral collaboration on
combination of strategic interventions
• Legislate against discrimination
• Interventions that tackle negative attitudes
directly through disability awareness training
• Awareness campaigns promoting positive
attitudes, anti-stigma
• Interventions which promote personal contact
with pwd in social, educational, employment
spheres
• People with disabilities are likely best leaders
www.nda.ie
thank you.