A systematic review of the impact of media reports of severe mental illness on stigma and discrimination, and interventions that aim to mitigate any adverse impact

Abstract

Purpose: This review aims to summarise the evidence on the impact of news media and social media reports of severe mental illness (SMI) on stigma, and interventions that aim to mitigate any adverse impact. Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted in December 2017 to identify studies that report on the impact of media coverage or media interventions on stigma related to schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, or mental illness in general. Data were synthesised narratively. Results: 12 studies met inclusion criteria; 7 explored the impact of news media on stigma towards SMI or general mental illness, 2 explored the impact of social media, while 3 evaluated interventions that aimed to mitigate this impact. These studies showed that positive news reports and social media posts are likely to lead to reductions in stigmatising attitudes and negative reports and social media posts are likely to increase stigmatising attitudes. There were a limited number of interventions aiming to mitigate the negative impact of news reports of mental illness on stigma, however these were ineffective. Interventions with media professionals appear to be successful at reducing their stigmatising attitudes, but can also act to increase both positive and negative reports in the media. Conclusions: Given the limited research evidence on the impact of news and social media on stigma towards SMI, and on the effectiveness of interventions aiming to mitigate this impact, further studies of higher quality are needed in this area. Due to mixed findings, interventions with media professionals are also an area of research priority.

Social stigma is an underestimated contributing factor to unemployment in people with mental illness or mental health issues: position paper and future directions

“…Studies have consistently shown that both entertainment and news media provide overwhelmingly dramatic and distorted images of mental illness that emphasize dangerousness, criminality and unpredictability, and employers and supervisors are exposed to these influences as well. A recent review concluded that destigmatizing interventions targeting media professionals should be a research priority [24]. Entertainment and news media model negative reactions to people with mental illness, including fear, rejection, derision and ridicule [23].…”

Problematic internet use: Media portrayal across eight countries

“…Namely, the media can serve to promote products and shape behaviors predominantly of young people (Romer & Moreno, 2017). Numerous studies also highlight the impact of the media on the perception of illnesses, stigma, mental distress and violent behavior (Ross et al, 2019;Williams & Witte, 2018;Wormwood, Wormwood, Lin, Lynn, Barrett, & Quigley, 2019).…”

“…The evidence is mainly gathered from negative examples, where digital media have served as a vehicle for marketing and social transmission of risky products and behaviours (Romer & Moreno, 2017), with adolescents and young adults serving as common victims, due to their increased exposure and unique vulnerability to the effects of social media in particular, and digital communication in general (Lenhart, 2016). In addition, much of the recent works analyse the media impact on severe mental illnesses and associated outcomes like stigma (Ross, Morgan, Jorm, & Reavley, 2019), suicide (Williams & Witte, 2018), violence (Wormwood, Lin, Lynn, Barrett, & Quigley, 2019), hostility (Adeline & Schumacher, 2018), or body image (Rounsefel, et al, 2019). This stems from the fact that the media coverage of mental health care issues, as an outstanding research area with long-standing impact on public opinion and governmental policies, has a long history of repeated scientific interest and conducted empirical research (Ross et al, 2019).…”

“…In addition, much of the recent works analyse the media impact on severe mental illnesses and associated outcomes like stigma (Ross, Morgan, Jorm, & Reavley, 2019), suicide (Williams & Witte, 2018), violence (Wormwood, Lin, Lynn, Barrett, & Quigley, 2019), hostility (Adeline & Schumacher, 2018), or body image (Rounsefel, et al, 2019). This stems from the fact that the media coverage of mental health care issues, as an outstanding research area with long-standing impact on public opinion and governmental policies, has a long history of repeated scientific interest and conducted empirical research (Ross et al, 2019). Various studies have reported that a generally negative tone prevails in the broadsheet coverage of such issues worldwide (Coverdale et al, 2002;Huang & Priebe, 2003).…”

Relationships between social stigma, stigma experience and self-stigma and impaired quality of life in schizophrenia across three Latin-American countries

“…Some countries have renamed schizophrenia to diminish its associated stigma, however with little evidence for effectiveness [58]. The impact of social media on stigma remains also insufficiently explored [38,59]. A recent review has shown small to medium effects of contact interventions, educational interventions, mixed contact and education, family psychoeducation programs, and hallucination simulations and has concluded that it was needed to understand the active ingredients of these interventions to improve their effectiveness [60].…”