Attitudes of university students towards people with paranoid schizophrenia.

To study attitudes towards persons with paranoid schizophrenia of first- and final-year university students taking three different majors, Link's Social Distance Scale, modified to relate to several vignettes presenting different descriptions of a patient with paranoid schizophrenia, was administered to 617 university students ages 18 to 29 years (M = 21.1, SD = 2.6). 423 were women and 194 men. Analysis indicates fourth year psychology majors reported the greatest acceptance of persons with paranoid schizophrenia. The most efficient vignette in diminishing rejection of the portrayed patient included information on the patient's psychosocial rehabilitation status. University students' attitudes appear to vary with the training they receive and the kind of information they have about the patient.