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Understanding how stigmatized identities contribute to increased rates of depression and anxiety is critical to stigma reduction and mental health treatment. There has been little research testing multiple aspects of stigmatized identities simultaneously. In the current study, we collected data from a diverse, urban, adult community sample of people with a concealed stigmatized identity (CSI). We targeted 5 specific CSIs – mental illness, substance abuse, experience of domestic violence, experience of sexual assault, and experience of childhood abuse – that have been shown to put people at risk for increased psychological distress. We collected measures of the anticipation of being devalued by others if the identity became known (anticipated stigma), the level of defining oneself by the stigmatized identity (centrality), the frequency of thinking about the identity (salience), the extent of agreement with negative stereotypes about the identity (internalized stigma), and extent to which other people currently know about the identity (outness). Results showed that greater anticipated stigma, greater identity salience, and lower levels of outness each uniquely and significantly predicted variance in increased psychological distress (a composite of depression and anxiety). In examining communalities and differences across the five identities, we found that mean levels of the stigma variables differed across the identities, with people with substance abuse and mental illness reporting greater anticipated and internalized stigma. However, the prediction pattern of the variables for psychological distress was similar across the substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, and childhood abuse identities (but not sexual assault). Understanding which components of stigmatized identities predict distress can lead to more effective treatment for people experiencing psychological distress.

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Objective Internalizing mental illness stigma is related to poorer well-being, but less is known about the factors that predict levels of internalized stigma. This study explored how experiences of discrimination relate to greater anticipation of discrimination and devaluation in the future, and how anticipation of stigma, in turn predicts greater stigma internalization. Method Participants were 105 adults with mental illness who self-reported their experiences of discrimination based on their mental illness, their anticipation of discrimination and social devaluation from others in the future, and their level of internalized stigma. Participants were approached in several locations and completed surveys on laptop computers. Results Correlational analyses indicated that more experiences of discrimination due to one’s mental illness were related to increased anticipated discrimination in the future, increased anticipated social stigma from others, and greater internalized stigma. Multiple serial mediator analyses showed that the effect of experiences of discrimination on internalized stigma was fully mediated by increased anticipated discrimination and anticipated stigma. Conclusion and Implications for Practice Experiences of discrimination over the lifetime may influence not only how much future discrimination people with mental illness are concerned with but also how much they internalize negative feelings about the self. Mental health professionals may need to address concerns with future discrimination and devaluation in order to decrease internalized stigma.

The present work was carried out to evaluate how plant growth and cultural practices influence the amount and composition of cuticular waxes on leaves of rose cultivars. The total amount of cuticular wax per leaf area was higher for rose cultivar Apollo Parade than for Charming Parade. Both cultivars had waxes dominated by alkanes, with the major alkanes being the C31 and C33 homologues. Primary alcohols were the next most abundant constituent class, with C26 as the dominant homologue. Compared with Charming Parade, Apollo Parade had higher proportions of its total wax load as primary alcohols but lower acids and aldehydes. The proportion of alkanes in the total load on these cultivars was similar. Commercially produced roses are routinely treated with paclobutrazol (PBZ) to retard growth. PBZ treatments caused a 10% increase in total wax load and changes in the proportions of certain wax constituents within 11 days of application. Notable was an increase in the total proportion of acids in the total load 25 days after PBZ application, primarily because of increased C28 acids. An alternative method of retarding plant growth is production of roses under limited water availability. When Apollo Parade roses experienced periods of moderate drought stress during production, the wax load per leaf area increased 14 and 8% above control levels at 24 and 38 days after imposition of drought, respectively. Drought caused similar changes in the proportions of individual wax constituents as did PBZ application.