Meeting abstract

https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2026.324

Attitudes of Psychiatric Health Care Professionals Toward People With Personality Disorders

Josipa Merćep ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia *
Josipa Lončar ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
Matea Galetić Pavlov ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
Tonći Mastelić ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
Mirjana Sučević Ercegovac ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
Mario Šiško ; Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, University of Split, Cvite Fiskovića 5, 21000 Split, Croatia
Tonka Borovina Marasović ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
Trpimir Glavina ; University Hospital of Split, Spinčićeva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

Working with individuals with personality disorders
can be demanding due to dynamic relationships,
intense emotions, and constant testing of
clear boundaries. Our aim was to examine the
attitudes of psychiatric staff toward people with
personality disorders. We included 172 psychiatric
professionals. The Attitudes to Personality
Disorder Questionnaire (APDQ) was used. It consists
of 35 statements rated on a 6-point Likert
scale from “never” to “always.” Higher scores indicate
more positive attitudes. Descriptive statistics
and ANOVA were conducted. Women make
up 75% of respondents, and the average age is 42 years. Nurses account for 39% of the sample,
26.2% are psychiatry specialists, and 17.4% are
residents in psychiatry and psychologists. A total
of 67.4% of respondents have a university degree
or higher, 17.4% have a higher professional
degree, and 15.1% have completed secondary
education. Of the respondents, 43% work in
psychiatric hospitals, 27.9% in clinical hospital
centers, 10.5% in other institutions, 9.9% in
clinical hospitals, 7.6% in general hospitals, and
1.2% in primary health care centers. Participants
with secondary education have significantly lower
APDQ scores compared to those with higher
professional or university-level education or more
(p < 0.05). Nurses have significantly lower APDQ
scores compared to psychologists, psychiatry residents,
and psychiatry specialists (p < 0.05). Staff
in psychiatric hospitals have significantly lower
scores than staff in general hospitals (p < 0.05).
It can be concluded that nurses have significantly
more negative attitudes toward people with personality
disorders compared to other psychiatric
professionals, particularly those with secondary
education working in psychiatric hospitals. It is
assumed that this is due to a less comprehensive
approach to personality disorders during their
training, as well as greater interaction with these
patients. It is known that relationships with people
with personality disorders can be challenging,
with intense transference. Nurses with secondary
education most often interact with patients
in the context of the ward’s everyday functioning
and less in outpatient or therapeutic settings in
the narrower sense, where conditions are somewhat
more controlled, as is the case for nurses
with higher professional degrees, psychologists,
or physicians. Additional training or participation
in Balint groups could help change such attitudes
and facilitate everyday work. More extensive research
on a larger sample is needed.

Keywords

personality disorders; attitudes; APDQ; psychiatric healthcare professionals; Balint

Hrčak ID:

353016

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/353016

Publication date:

15.6.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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