title: Public conceptions of mental illness: labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. Beyond personal responsibility: Effects of causal attributions for overweight and obesity on weight-related beliefs, stigma, and policy support An attempt to reduce negative stereotyping of obesity in children by changing controllability beliefs. Development and psychometric testing of the nurses' attitudes toward obesity and obese patients (NATOOPS) scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVES The authors used nationwide survey data to characterize current public conceptions related to recognition of mental illness and perceived causes , dangerousness , and desired social distance . METHODS Data were derived from a vignette experiment included in the 1996 General Social Survey .  Respondents ( n = 1444 ) were r and omly assigned to 1 of 5 vignette conditions . Four vignettes described psychiatric disorders meeting diagnostic criteria , and the fifth depicted a " troubled person " with sub clinical problems and worries . RESULTS Results indicate that the majority of the public identifies schizophrenia ( 88 % ) and major depression ( 69 % ) as mental illnesses and that most report multicausal explanations combining stressful circumstances with biologic and genetic factors . Results also show , however , that smaller proportions associate alcohol ( 49 % ) or drug ( 44 % ) abuse with mental illness and that symptoms of mental illness remain strongly connected with public fears about potential violence and with a desire for limited social interaction . CONCLUSIONS While there is reason for optimism in the public 's recognition of mental illness and causal attributions , a strong stereotype of dangerousness and desire for social distance persist . These latter conceptions are likely to negatively affect people with mental illness Objective : The objective of this research was to compare the effects of different causal attributions for overweight and obesity , among individuals with overweight and obesity , on weight-related beliefs , stigmatising attitudes and policy support . Design : In Study 1 , an online sample of 95 US adults rated the extent to which they believed various factors caused their own weight status . In Study 2 , 125 US adults  read one of three r and omly assigned online passages attributing obesity to personal responsibility , biology , or the ‘ food environment . ’  All participants in both studies were overweight or obese . Main outcome measures : All participants reported beliefs about weight loss , weight-stigmatising attitudes , and support for obesity-related policies . Results : In Study 1 , biological attributions were associated with low weight-malleability beliefs and blame , high policy support , but high internalised weight bias . ‘ Food environment ’ attributions were not associated with any outcomes , while ‘ personal responsibility ’ attributions were associated with high prejudice and blame . In Study 2 , participants who received information about the food environment reported greater support for food-related policies and greater self-efficacy to lose weight . Conclusion : Emphasising the role of the food environment in causing obesity may promote food policy support and health behaviours without imposing the negative consequences associated with other attributions The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether changing children 's beliefs about the controllability of obesity would reduce their negative attitudes toward fat people . The participants were 74 children from Grade s 4 - 6 , 42 in the experimental group and 32 in the control group . The experimental group were presented with a brief intervention which focussed on the uncontrollability of weight .  The study found that the intervention was successful in reducing the amount of controllability that children assigned to obesity , but was not successful in reducing negative stereotyping of the obese among the experimental group compared to the control group . These results indicate that while children 's beliefs about the controllability of obesity can be changed , reducing their negative stereotyping is more difficult This study was design ed to develop and test an instrument to measure  nurses ' attitudes towards obesity and obese adult patients .  Items were based on an earlier version of the instrument , obesity discrimination research , and clinical experience . After content validation of items , the instrument was sent to 1,400 r and omly selected Registered Nurses . Factor analysis yielded a 5-factor solution , with 36 items reaching loadings of .4 or greater . Cronbach 's alpha was .81 for the reduced scale , with a range of .45 to .79 on the five factors . Construct validity was supported by significant differences between contrast groups on three factors and consistency with underlying theory . Overall the instrument demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and could be used in future research
target: Most question naires were brief , demonstrated adequate internal consistency , and tapped key cognitive and affective dimensions of weight bias such as stereotypes and blaming .
background: Background : People living with overweight and obesity often experience weight-based stigmatization .
  Investigations of the prevalence and correlates of weight bias and evaluation of weight bias reduction interventions depend upon psychometrically-sound measurement .
  Our paper is the first to comprehensively evaluate the psychometric properties , use of people-first language within items , and suitability for use with various population s of available self-report measures of weight bias .