Relationship of staff development activity to opinions about mental illness

When 1971 and 1974 student psychiatric aides, staff psychiatric aides, and professionals at Topeka State Hospital in Kansas were given the five-factor Opinions about Mental Illness Scale as pre- and posttests, no significant differences were found in scores of the student aide groups. Significant differences, however, were found among 1974 student aides, staff aides, and professionals, with students scoring higher than professionals (p less than .05) on factors A-authoritarianism, D-social restrictiveness, and E-interpersonal etiology. Staff aides scored higher than professionals on factor B-benevolence, factor A-authoritarianism (p=.005), and factor D-social restrictiveness (p=.05). Implications for nursing are discussed.