Research Project
6675615
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Negative public attitudes toward people with psychiatric disorders undermine the treatment and recovery of these individuals, and it is likely that these negative attitudes have their roots in childhood experience. In particular, negative stereotyping in mass media, particularly television, has been implicated as an important mechanism by which societal prejudices are perpetuated in future generations. There has been little examination of children's media, however, with respect to the depiction of mental illnesses. To address this deficiency, trained raters will view and rate a sample of children's television programming. Two hundred seventy hours of television programs directed toward children will be videotaped. This will include 90 hours of weekday programs on basic channels (Fox, PBS, and UPN), 90 hours of weekday programs from cable networks (WB, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network), and 90 hours from Saturday morning programs. Trained raters will then view and rate programs with respect to a variety of aspects of the portrayal of mental illness, including demographics (age, gender, occupation, marital status of the character), physical appearance, character attributes and behavior, and treatment by other characters. Results will help to increase understanding of what children are learning about mental illnesses, and, in so doing, suggest ways that depictions might be changed to reduce the perpetuation of mental illness stigma.
