Table 2 Item-total correlations of each scale item and total score (20 items on OMS-HC)

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

.514 ^**

2. If a person with a mental illness complains of physical symptoms (e.g. nausea, back pain or headache), I would likely attribute this to their mental illness.

.422^**

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

-.072 ^*

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

.426^**

5. I would be more inclined to seek help for a mental illness if my treating healthcare provider was not associated with my workplace.

.350^**

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

.572^**

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

.516^**

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

-.016

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

-.078 ^*

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

-.205^**

11. It is the responsibility of health care providers to inspire hope in people with mental illness.

.011

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

.475^**

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

.466^**

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

.407^**

15. People with mental illness seldom pose a risk to the public.

-.072 ^*

16. The best treatment for mental illness is medication.

.232^**

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

.317^**

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

.289^**

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

-.129 ^**

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

.400^**