Table 2 Factor analysis with varimax rotation (n = 392); factor loadings > 0.40 in bold

Factor 1: Attitudes of healthcare providers towards people with mental illness

1. I am more comfortable helping a person who has a physical illness than I am helping a person who has a mental illness

9. Despite my professional beliefs, I have negative reactions towards people who have mental illness

10. There is little I can do to help people with mental illness

11. More than half of people with mental illness don’t try hard enough to get better

13. Healthcare providers do not need to be advocates for people with mental illness

15. I struggle to feel compassion for a person with a mental illness

Factor 2: Disclosure/help-seeking

3. If I were under treatment for a mental illness, I would not disclose this to any of my colleagues

4. I would see myself as weak if I had a mental illness and could not fix it myself

5. I would be reluctant to seek help if I had a mental illness

8. If I had a mental illness, I would tell my friends^a

Factor 3: Social distance

2. If a colleague with whom I work told me they had a managed mental illness, I would be just as willing to work with him/her^a

6. Employers should hire a person with a managed mental illness if he/she is the best person for the job^a

7. I would still go to a physician if I knew that the physician had been treated for a mental illness^a

12. I would not want a person with a mental illness, even if it were appropriately managed, to work with children

14. I would not mind if a person with a mental illness lived next door to me^a