The development of positive attitudes toward mental health among university nursing students: Countering the role of social desirability.

Purpose: This study analyses the evolution of attitudes of nursing students towards mental health, paying particular attention to the influence of social desirability.

Design and methods: Prospective longitudinal repeated-measures study in a sample of nursing students who completed the Community Attitudes toward Mental Illness scale and The Social Desirability Scale.

Findings: After their training, and after adjusting for social desirability, students of female gender recognized attitudes that foster humanistic values than their male counterparts. However, attitudes of restrictiveness and authoritarianism continued to be manifested significantly when the students themselves had mental health problems (MHPs), had had previous training, or were older.

Practice implications: University courses should continue to foster attitudes of acceptance and destigmatization of people with MHPs, through responses that value authenticity.