Determination of the Beliefs Towards to Mental Illness in Nursing Students in Baskent University

Aim: Investigation of the beliefs of nursing students in a university towards mental diseases. Method: In this descriptive study, 174 nursing students participated. Data collection tool consisted of 2 parts. The first section, which consisted of 13 questions about the sociodemographic characteristics have been developed by researchers based on the relevant literature. In the second part, which included 21 questions, The Mental Disease Belief Scale (MDBS) was used. Results: The age of 164 (94.3%) students ranged between 20 to 25 years and 166 (95.4%) of participants were female. It was identified that the students scored 45.597±16.196 from The Beliefs toward Mental Illness subscale whereas they scored 19,.695±6.439 from the dangerous subscale, 24.454±10.058 and 1.448±1.945 from the poor social and interpersonal skills and incurability subscales respectively. Conclusion: According to the Beliefs towards Mental Illness Scale, nursing students had positive beliefs towards mental illness