Effects of contact with treatment users on mental illness stigma: Evidence from university roommate assignments

Eisenberg, Daniel; Downs, Marilyn F.; Golberstein, Ezra

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.007

Cited by 32 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…A higher proportion of students who do not have mental health conditions may drive up public stigma on campuses, however this "contact hypothesis" remains unresolved itself (see Eisenberg, Downs, and Golberstein 2012). We believe that recent research on the causal direction of public stigma and mental health (Kendra 2013) as well as our own differences in findings between selfreport and screen measures hints at the causal direction and we suggest that future research should more thoroughly investigate this in a causal framework.…”

Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 89%

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses

Gaddis

Ramirez

Hernandez

2018

Social Science & Medicine

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Scholars suggest that public mental health stigma operates at a meso-level and is associated with severity of symptoms, disclosure, self-esteem, and treatment-seeking behavior. However, the operationalization of public stigma nearly always comes from an individual-level generalization of what others believe. Using data from over 60,000 students on 75 U.S. college and university campuses between 2009-2015, we contextualize public stigma by creating a school-level measure of students' individual-level endorsed mental health treatment stigma. We present multilevel logistic regression models for 21 different dependent variables. We find that even after controlling for individual-level stigma scores, school-level stigma is negatively associated with self-reports of suicidal ideation and self-injury, although not associated with screens for depression or anxiety. Moreover, school-level stigma is negatively associated with medication use, counseling and therapy visits, and to a lesser degree, informal support. We suggest that future research should continue to examine the contextual environment of public stigma, while policymakers may be able to implement changes to significantly reduce stigma at this level.

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Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 89%

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses

Gaddis

Ramirez

Hernandez

2018

Social Science & Medicine

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“…Furthermore, caution is needed in such attempts. For example, although a cooperative short-term activity with a former mentally ill undergraduate reduced stigma in undergraduates [53], when undergraduates with mental health treatment histories were assigned as room-mates with those with no mental health history, the latter group’s stigma towards mental health treatment users increased, highlighting that naturalistic contact alone, if not structured appropriately, might be more harmful than helpful [16]. While providing undergraduates with social contact or video-based social contact with the mentally ill as brief educational interventions to reduce their stigma has been effective, it is important that these interventions expose them to the normal lives and successes of the affected individuals [54].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, there is conflicting evidence about differences in stigmatising attitudes as a function of gender and age [3, 6–8]. Findings about how stigma is affected by exposure to mental health problems, such as through course of study (e.g., medical or health-related disciplines) [8–12], personal experience [13–15] and the experiences of family member and friends [7, 12, 13, 15, 16], are also not consistent. Studies have also examined the effects that labelling a disorder can have on related stigmatising attitudes in undergraduates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigmatising attitudes of undergraduates towards their peers with depression: a cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThere is limited research examining mental health-related stigma of undergraduates in non-western developing countries. This study examined stigma of undergraduates in Sri Lanka towards another depressed undergraduate.MethodsA hypothetical vignette of an undergraduate suffering from depression was presented. A total of 4650 undergraduates responded to scales assessing their personal stigma towards and desire for social distance from this individual. Exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) was performed to determine the dimensionality and loading pattern of the items on these two stigma scales. Multiple linear regressions were used to explore correlates of the identified dimensions of stigma.ResultsPrevious findings that the Social Distance Scale forms a single dimension and that the Personal Stigma Scale consists of two dimensions were supported. However, the measurement structure of the dimensions of stigma on the latter scales, labelled ‘Weak-not-Sick’ and ‘Dangerous-Undesirable’ , differed from previous work. A high level of stigma in relation to the ‘Weak-not-Sick’ Scale was observed. However, some correlates associated with lower levels of stigma on this scale, such as being in the Medical Faculty, were associated with higher levels of stigma on the ‘Dangerous-Undesirable’ and ‘Social Distance’ scales. In contrast, labelling the problem as a mental health-related problem, with absence of specific psychiatric terminology, was associated with lower levels of stigma on these latter two scales. Exposure to a mental health problem in family or friends or from personal experience was also associated with lower stigma on the Social Distance Scale. However, the effect sizes of these relationships were small.ConclusionsThe findings highlight differences in the measurement structure and score distribution of the ‘Weak-not-Sick’ and ‘Dangerous-Undesirable’ scales when used in different cultural and demographic contexts. The dimensionality of stigma relevant to these scales must always be established prior to their use in different contexts. Furthermore, campaigns targeted at improving knowledge about depression as a real illness and as a psychiatric condition need to ensure that such attempts are not associated with increases in other aspects of stigma.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0523-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Though these types of stigma are interlinked and one can lead to the other, their overall effects on the people with mental illness (PWMIs) can be far reaching. In addition to dealing with their illness, PWMIs have to deal with the social, psychological and economic consequences of psychiatric stigma which can exacerbate low self-esteem, marginalization from society, social isolation, social anxiety, poor social skills, difficulties in securing employment, housing difficulties as well as poor social support, all of which are important for integration into the society [3,5,11-15]. These effects, in turn can lead to strained relationships, depression, low self-esteem, unemployment and be a barrier to accessing health care, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychiatric stigma and discrimination in South Africa: perspectives from key stakeholders

et al. 2014

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BackgroundStigma and discrimination against people with mental illness remain barriers to help seeking and full recovery for people in need of mental health services. Yet there is scarce research investigating the experiences of psychiatric stigma on mental health service users in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was therefore to explore the experiences of psychiatric stigma by service users in order to inform interventions to reduce such stigma and discrimination in one LMIC, namely South Africa.MethodsParticipants comprised a total of 77 adults aged above 18 years, made up of service providers including professional nurses (10), lay counsellors (20), auxiliary social workers (2); and service users (45).ResultsPsychiatric stigma was found to be perpetuated by family members, friends, employers, community members and health care providers. Causes of psychiatric stigma identified included misconceptions about mental illness often leading to delays in help-seeking. Experiencing psychiatric stigma was reported to worsen the health of service users and impede their capacity to lead and recover a normal life.ConclusionMedia campaigns and interventions to reduce stigma should be designed to address specific stigmatizing behaviours among specific segments of the population. Counselling of families, caregivers and service users should include how to deal with experienced and internalized stigma.

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Effects of contact with treatment users on mental illness stigma: Evidence from university roommate assignments

Cited by 32 publications

References 29 publications

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses

Stigmatising attitudes of undergraduates towards their peers with depression: a cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka

Psychiatric stigma and discrimination in South Africa: perspectives from key stakeholders

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