Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026
13:08
Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Children's understanding of mental illness: an exploratory study
C Fox1, E Buchanan-Barrow, M Barrett
1Newman College of Higher Education, Birmingham, UK. claudie.fox@newman.ac.uk
Child: Care, Health and Development
|January 4, 2008
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Mental Health Literacy
Background:
- Investigating children's understanding of mental illness.
- Utilizing a framework for adult illness comprehension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess how children aged 5-11 perceive mental illness.
- To explore developmental trends in children's mental illness understanding.
Main Methods:
- Semistructured interviews and card selection tasks were used.
- Assessed children's views on causes, consequences, timeline, and curability of mental illness.
Main Results:
- Understanding of mental illness increases with age.
- Older children show more sophisticated comprehension; younger children use medical models.
- Girls demonstrate greater social acceptance and compassion than boys.
Conclusions:
- The Leventhal model is effective for studying children's mental illness knowledge.
- Highlights developmental progression and gender differences in understanding mental illness.
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