Association of stigmatizing attitudes with people’s opinion of depression as a valid reason for sickness absence: A Swedish vignette study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common cause of sickness absence (SA) and also highly associated with stigma. Few studies have addressed the role of stigma in relation to SA. OBJECTIVE: To investigate if attitudes to depression were associated with the public’s opinion of depression as a valid reason of SA. METHODS: The study population (n = 2413) originated from a web-based panel of citizens. The survey included a short vignette describing a person with symptoms of depression and the person’s work tasks, followed by a question on recommendation of SA. Negative attitudes were measured by the Depression Stigma Scale. Logistic regressions were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) for the likelihood of not recommending SA, controlling for individual and work-related co-variates. RESULTS: The crude association between negative attitudes and not recommending SA was OR 2.15 (95% CI, 1.76–2.62). In the fully adjusted model the OR was 1.76 (95% CI, 1.40 –2.21) for not recommending SA. CONCLUSIONS: Participants with negative attitudes to depression were more likely to not consider depression as a valid reason of sickness absence. The study supports theories on layered stigma; attitudes from one arena are related to other arenas. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Practical pathway for the management of depression in the workplace: a Canadian perspective

“…In one survey, 26% of patients with MDD reported experiencing workplace discrimination, more than 50% expected to face discrimination, and 73% concealed their mental diagnosis ( 35 ). Similarly, a survey of the general public found that many do not regard depression as a valid reason for sickness absence ( 36 ). Stigma may also play a part in the workplace response to mental health injuries.…”