Attitudes, knowledge, and opinions regarding mental health among undergraduate nursing students

A cross-sectional study involving 235 subjects was conducted in 2011 to compare the opinions of nursing students regarding mental illness and related care practices at two institutions in the state of Parana, Brazil. Following approval by the ethics committee, data collection was initiated using an instrument containing questions regarding the importance of personal characteristics, knowledge of mental health, and the Opinions about Mental Illness (OMI) scale. Statistical analyses, including the Mann-Whitney test, Chi-squared test, and Spearman correlation at alpha<0.05, were performed using SPSSv.15. The students exhibited significantly different characteristics only for Benevolence. Regarding the importance of knowledge about mental health, in comparison with students from the State University of Londrina (Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL), students at the State University of Maringa (Universidade Estadual de Maringa - UEM) considered psychological aspects more comprehensively than technical knowledge (p<0.01). We conclude that there are differences between students at these institutions in terms of knowledge and the factor Benevolence. Further studies are necessary to identify the underlying causes of such differences.