Effect of occupation on knowledge and attitudes.

Background
Knowledge and attitudes of professionals both pose a potential barrier to diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. However, knowledge and attitudes about conduct disorder in professionals working with young people are poorly understood. Little is known about the impact of occupation, direct and indirect (training and education) experience, or the interrelationship between knowledge and attitudes.
Methods
We conducted an online survey of 58 participants, including Psychology Staff, Teaching Staff, Care Staff, and Other Non-Clinical Staff. A questionnaire comprising three subscales (causes, treatments, and characteristics) measured knowledge. A thermometer scale measured global attitudes. Open-ended response measures were used to measure four attitude components: stereotypic beliefs (about characteristics), symbolic beliefs (about the holder’s traditions), affect, and past behaviour. Primary analysis explored the impact of occupation, direct experience, and indirect experience on outcome measures. A secondary exploratory analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between knowledge and attitudes.
Results
Psychology Staff had significantly more favourable global attitudes (F = 0.49, p = 0.01) and symbolic beliefs (F = 0.57, p = 0.02) towards those with conduct disorder than Teaching Staff; there were no other significant group differences in attitudes. Psychology staff had more knowledge about conduct disorder than other groups, though the differences were not significant. Direct and indirect experience were associated with greater knowledge (direct: d = 0.97, p = 0.002; indirect d = 0.86, p = 0.004) and favourable global attitudes (direct: d = 1.12, p < 0.001; indirect: d = 0.68, p = 0.02). Secondary exploratory analyses revealed significant positive correlations between: all knowledge variables with global attitudes; total knowledge with past behaviour; and affect and knowledge of causes with past behaviour.
Conclusions
Psychology-based staff may have more favourable attitudes towards children with conduct disorder than teachers, primarily due to direct and indirect experience with the disorder. Our sample may have been too small to detect overall or within-group effects of knowledge or attitudes, however exploratory analyses showing a positive correlation between knowledge and attitudes suggest education may be critical in supporting teachers and other groups in their approaches to this challenging group of young people.

研究背景
专业人员的知识与态度均可能成为精神障碍诊断与治疗的潜在障碍。然而，针对从事青少年相关工作的专业人员群体，其对品行障碍（conduct disorder）的知识与态度的相关研究仍较为匮乏。目前学界对职业类型、直接与间接（培训与教育）经验的影响，抑或知识与态度间的相互关联仍知之甚少。

研究方法
我们开展了一项针对58名参与者的线上调查，参与者涵盖心理从业人员、教学人员、护理人员及其他非临床工作人员。调查问卷包含三个子量表，分别针对品行障碍的病因、治疗方案与临床特征三个维度评估参与者的相关知识；采用温度计式量表评估其整体态度；并通过开放式应答题测量四类态度维度：针对特征的刻板信念、针对持有者自身传统的象征信念、情感倾向，以及过往行为。首要分析旨在探究职业类型、直接经验与间接经验对各结果变量的影响；次要探索性分析则用于考察知识与态度之间的关联。

研究结果
相较于教学人员，心理从业人员对品行障碍患者的整体态度（F=0.49，p=0.01）与象征信念（F=0.57，p=0.02）显著更积极；其余态度维度未发现显著组间差异。心理从业人员对品行障碍的相关知识水平也高于其他群体，但该差异未达到统计学显著性。直接与间接经验均与更高的知识水平（直接经验：d=0.97，p=0.002；间接经验：d=0.86，p=0.004）以及更积极的整体态度相关（直接经验：d=1.12，p<0.001；间接经验：d=0.68，p=0.02）。次要探索性分析显示，以下变量间存在显著正相关：所有知识维度与整体态度；总知识得分与过往行为；情感倾向与病因知识均与过往行为相关。

研究结论
相较于教师，心理相关从业人员对品行障碍儿童的态度可能更为积极，这主要源于其与该障碍相关的直接与间接经验。不过本研究的样本量或相对有限，难以检测出知识或态度层面的整体或组内效应；但探索性分析所揭示的知识与态度间的正相关关系表明，教育干预或许是支持教师及其他群体妥善应对这类棘手青少年群体的关键举措。