Representaciones sociales de la salud mental en estudiantes de psicología de una universidad privada de la ciudad de Quito en el año 2024

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify the way in which Social Representations on Mental Health influence the definition of professional practice in senior students of Psychology and Clinical Psychology at a private university in the city of Quito in the year 2024. Through a quantitative research approach, with a descriptive and transversal methodology, a total scope of 80 students was achieved. On the other hand, the instruments used to obtain information were semi-structured surveys using a Likert scale, shared with the participants in a Google Forms format. In this way, the sociodemographic data of the sample were investigated, as well as the conceptualization they had regarding the research topic. Thanks to this data, it was possible to systematize the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of the sample. Finally, among the findings, they indicate that most of the sample associates the concept of 'Mental Health' with a definition that considers biopsychosocial factors, aligned with the perspective of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This association helps to understand how social representations directly impact the definition of students’ professional practice. Therefore, for the psychology students in training, there is a strong belief that psychologists are better prepared than the general population to understand what mental health is about.