Mind-Body dualism and medical student attitudes toward mental illness in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Philosophical beliefs regarding the origin of mental illness may underlie resistance to psychiatric treatment and affect attitudes toward the mentally ill. Aim: The present study sought to: (1) identify characteristics of medical students who hold mind-brain dualism (MBD) beliefs and (2) determine relationships between MBD beliefs and perceptions of mental illnesses. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that asked medical students questions about mind-brain beliefs and religiosity. Three fictitious vignettes (schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder [APD], and depression) were presented and then students asked about how much participants felt the patients in these scenarios bore responsibility for their illness. A MBD score was calculated to measure MBD beliefs, and a total responsibility score (RS) was used to measure patient blameworthiness. Mediation analysis was used to examine whether MBD beliefs explained the relationship between religiosity and perceived patient responsibility for their illness, and whether this was moderated by gender. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 106 Saudi medical students. The average RS was highest for the APD scenario and lowest for schizophrenia, whereas depression fell intermediate between those two (ANOVA F (1.82, 219.83) = 27.21, P