INACCURATE PORTRAYALS OF

MENTAL ILLNESS IN HORROR

FILMS AND TEENAGERS’
PERCEPTIONS
AP Research 2022
Background Information
Key terms: 
■ Mental illness
– (Parekh, 2018)
■ Mental health stigma
– (Henderson, 2018, p. 107)
– (Reavley et al., 2016, p. 1257)
■ Modern horror films 
– (Scott, 2020)
Literature Review

■ Goodwin (2014)

– Content analysis of 55 horror films to identify common

stereotypes
– Found that most films portrayed mentally ill characters as
homicidal or pathetic; spread misinformation
Literature Review

■ Wahl (1992)

– Literature review to analyze the role of media in mental

health stigma
– Found that mental illness is frequently
portrayed, often unfavorably/inaccurately, which may
affect public perceptions
Literature Review 

■ Kimmerle and Cress (2013)

– 2 experiments to examine whether the portrayals of mental

disorders influences knowledge/attitudes 
– The more often people watched television, the poorer their
knowledge was about schizophrenia and OCD 
– Fictional media vs. non-fiction media 
Research Gap and Question
■ Gap

– Modern western horror films

– Demographic (Arizonan teenagers)

– Direct short-term vs. cumulative long-term effects

■ Research question 

– To what extent do inaccurate portrayals of mental illness in modern

Western horror films influence Arizonan teenagers’ (aged 13-18)
perspectives on people with mental illnesses?
Methods

■ Sampling

– Convenience, non-probability

– On campus 

■ Instruments

– CAMI questionnaire (CAMI; Dear & Taylor, 1979) with

modifications
Methods
■ Ethics

– IRB approval

– Parent consent forms

– Confidentiality/anonymity

– Mostly close-ended questions

– Debrief and resources

Methods
■ Approach

– Exploratory

■ Design

– Non-experimental

■ Methods

– Mixed methods
Methods
■ Procedures
– Survey taken twice 
■ 2nd time, shown 4 film clips from:
– Psycho (1960)
– Joker (2019)
– Halloween (1978)
– Split (2017)

■ Second survey followed by 2 free response questions:

– Background information/influences
– Change in views
Methods
■ Analysis

– Statistical analysis

■ Descriptive statistics- frequencies and means

■ Inferential statistics- t-tests 

– Coding 

■ Descriptive and emotion coding 

Results
Discussion

■ Interpretation of results

– T-tests

– Background knowledge

– Positive feelings
Discussion

■ Connections to literature

– Findings are generally aligned with previous

literature
■ Kimmerle and Cress (2013)

■ Reavley et al. (2016)

Discussion

■ Limitations

– Sample size and non-probability sampling

– Self-report = response bias

Discussion

■ Recommendations
– Relationship between experience and positive
views
– Experimental design
Discussion

■ Implications
– Possible solutions to mental health stigma
■ Exposure

■ Education 
Works Cited
Goodwin, J. (2014). The horror of stigma: Psychosis and mental health care environments in twenty-first-century horror film (part

II). Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 50(4), 224–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12044 

Granello, D. H., Pauley, P. S., & Carmichael, A. (1999). Relationship of the Media to Attitudes Toward People With Mental Illness.

Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 38(2), 98–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2164-

490X.1999.tb00068.x 

Halloween (1978) Plot Summary. Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/plotsummary?

ref_=tt_stry_pl#synopsis 

Henderson, L. (2018). Popular television and public mental health: Creating media entertainment from mental distress. Critical

Public Health, 28(1), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2017.1309007  

Works Cited 
Reavley, N. J., Jorm, A. F., & Morgan, A. J. (2016). Beliefs about dangerousness of

people with mental health problems: The role of media reports and personal

exposure to threat or harm. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(9),

1257–1264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1215-6  

Scott, J. (2020). What is Horror? Definition and Examples in Film. Studio Binder.

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-horror-definition/  

Split (2016) Plot Summary. Internet Movie Database.

Works Cited 

Joker (2019) Plot Summary. Internet Movie Database. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/plotsummary?

ref_=tt_stry_pl#synopsis 

Kimmerle, J., & Cress, U. (2013). The effects of tv and film exposure on knowledge about and attitudes toward mental

disorders. Journal of Community Psychology, 41(8), 931–943. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21581 

Media definition and meaning. Dictionary. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/media 

Parekh, R. (2018, August). What is mental illness? American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-

families/what-is-mental-illness 

Prince, S. (2004). The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press. 

Psycho (1960) Plot Summary. Internet Movie Database.