Student health professionals' attitudes and experience after watching 'Ida's diary', a first-person account of living with borderline personality disorder: mixed methods study

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the use of commercial movies in nursing education, or 'cinenurducation'. There is a need for educational interventions which target mental health nurses' attitudes towards people with borderline personality disorder.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate and evaluate the experience and effects of attendance at a screening of the movie Ida’s Diary, a first-person account of living with borderline personality disorder.

DESIGN: Mixed methods design comprising a within-subjects AB longitudinal survey, and a qualitative analysis of participant-generated data and researcher field notes from a World Ca-fé discussion group.

SETTINGS: One university in Scotland.

PARTICIPANTS: N=66 undergraduate and postgraduate mental health nursing and coun-selling students.

METHODS: Participants completed measures of cognitive and emotional attitudes towards, and knowledge about, people with borderline personality disorder before and after one of two film screenings. We conducted a World Café discussion group after the second screen-ing. Resulting data were subject to a qualitative thematic analysis.

RESULTS: Quantitative analysis revealed a five-factor cognitive and a single-factor emo-tional attitude structure. Cognitive-attitudinal items related to treatment deservingness and value of mixed treatment approaches improved across iterations. Total knowledge score did not change, but one item about borderline personality disorder as a precursor to schizophrenia received considerably more incorrect endorsement post-screening. Qualitative analysis re-vealed five themes: Facilitation and inhibition of learning; promotion but not satiation of appe-tite for knowledge; challenging existing understanding; prompting creativity and anxiety; and initiating thinking about the bigger picture.

CONCLUSIONS: Participants found the film thought provoking; it increased their appetite for knowledge. Findings suggest that screening should be delivered in conjunction with more didactic information about borderline personality disorder.