The depiction of mental illnesses in children's television programs

Concern has been expressed that negative attitudes toward people with mental illnesses begin to develop early in childhood. This study examines one of the possible sources of learning of such negative attitudes—children's television programs. Two hundred sixty‐nine (269) hours of children's television programming were videotaped, viewed, and rated. Nearly half the programs viewed contained use of mental health terms. Most of these terms were slang and disrespectful (e.g., crazy and nut) and were used to disparage others. Twenty‐ one (21) characters with a mental illness were identified. These characters tended to be depicted as aggressive and threatening, and other characters responded to them with fear, exclusion, and disrespect. Children's television programs seem to provide substantial opportunity for children to develop negative attitudes and behaviors toward those with mental illnesses.