Knowledge, empathy, contact and stigmatization toward people with schizophrenia among university students in Malaysia

Leong, Jia Hao and Lim, Fei Min and Phoon, Kah Kei (2019) Knowledge, empathy, contact and stigmatization toward people with schizophrenia among university students in Malaysia. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects how a person feels, thinks, and behaves. The number of people with schizophrenia has showed an increase trend per year in Malaysia. Stigmatization against schizophrenia is a serious issue that brings detrimental effects, thus requires pressing attention. However, limited studies were done to investigate several predictors of stigmatization towards people with schizophrenia among university students in Malaysia. Current study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study that aimed to determine the predictive effects of knowledge and empathy on stigmatization towards people with schizophrenia as well as the moderating effect of contact on the association between the variables. A total of 248 university students from various public and private institutions in Malaysia were recruited through online survey method via social media platforms (e.g., Facebook groups, Messengers, and Whatsapp) by using purposive non-probability sampling method. Targeted participants were undergraduates and postgraduates who were pursuing Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor’s Degree, PhD, or Master programs in Malaysia. Present findings have revealed that knowledge negatively predicted stigmatization towards people with schizophrenia whereas empathy showed a non-significant predictive effect on stigma. On the other hand, it was found that knowledge about schizophrenia predicted stigma against the disorder more negatively for students who have contact with the patients, but not in the case for empathy. Present study contributed as a source of reference for relevant authorities to implement appropriate interventions in order to reduce stigma against schizophrenia, specifically in the context of Malaysia.

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