Computer anxiety in individuals with serious mental illness

This study was designed to compare computer anxiety in individuals with severe mental illness to a normative college sample and to examine whether computer training would be effective in reducing computer anxiety in individuals with severe mental illnesses. The Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS) was used to assess the self-reported computer anxiety of 30 individuals with severe psychiatric disorders enrolled in computer training at a mental health facility's employment training center. The CARS was administered prior to training, after 1 month of training, and after 3 months. Anxiety levels before computer training began were compared to the computer anxiety levels of 35 community college students enrolled in a course providing similar computer training. The individuals with severe mental illness were found to have significantly higher initial computer anxiety scores than the comparison group. Computer anxiety was not significantly reduced by the computer training in either group. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.