Objectives: Many studies have examined the general public's attitudes towards people with mental illness, but such studies are scarce in China. This study examined the perceptions of the Beijing population regarding their society's prevalent attitudes towards people with mental illness.
Methods: A total of 5000 individuals aged 18 or above living in Beijing were selected using a multistage, stratified, cluster and random sampling method. This was followed by a face-to-face interview which used a standardized questionnaire asking about societal attitudes towards individuals with mental illness.
Results: 4602 out of 5000 eligible individuals met the inclusion criteria and participated in the interview. 4596 questionnaires were deemed valid and included in the analyses. A large proportion of respondents believed that most individuals within their society held negative attitudes and had a strong desire to distance themselves from people with mental illness. Respondents aged 60 or older, who lived farther to downtown Beijing, or with higher education tended to believe that most individuals have relatively positive and tolerant attitudes towards people with mental illness.
Conclusions: Many people in Beijing perceive that most members of their society have negative beliefs towards people with mental illness. Further efforts are needed to determine if these perceptions are accurate and to reduce the stigma that is reinforced by these perceptions.
Keywords: Epidemiology; Mental illness; Social acceptance; Social distance; Stigmatization.