Knowledge, contact and stigma of mental illness: Comparing three stakeholder groups in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: It remains unknown what the impacts of multiple dimensions of contact (e.g. level, quantity and quality) are on the stigma of mental illness. Aims: To explore the relationship between the multiple dimensions of contact and stigma of mental illness among family members (FM), mental health workers (MHW) and community residents (CR) in Hong Kong. Methods: The stigma, contact and knowledge were measured in FM, MHW and CR in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analyses were used. Results: MHW ( n = 141) had higher knowledge, more contact and lower stigma of mental illness than CR ( n = 95) or FM ( n = 62). Knowledge and contact quality were significantly associated with lower stigma of mental illness in the three groups. However, contact level and contact quantity were not significantly associated with most stigma components. The contact level was positively associated with stigma of mental illness among FM and CR. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the differences in knowledge, contact and stigma of mental illness among different stakeholder groups. This study suggests that positive contact (e.g. equal, supportive, voluntary and pleasant contact) reduces stigma of mental illness, while negative contact (e.g. unfriendly, unsupportive, unpleasant contact) may increase stigma. The Enhancing Contact Model (ECM) should be tested in future anti-stigma interventions.

Public Stigma of COVID-19 and Its Correlates in the General Population of China

“…The negative correlation between public stigma towards people with COVID-19 and knowledge, as shown in this study, has been repeatedly verified in other similar stigmatizing conditions, including infectious disease and mental disorders [ 41 , 42 ]. The findings of this study suggested that misconceptions of COVID-19 were correlated with stigmatizing notions.…”

Effectiveness of enhancing contact model on reducing stigma of mental illness among family caregivers of persons with schizophrenia in rural China: A cluster randomized controlled trial

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial in rural China to examine the effectiveness of the ECM intervention on reducing the affiliate stigma of FCPWS. Given the negative contact may increase stigma, 18 the ECM intervention, a new intervention model, emphasizes positive contact with persons with schizophrenia. Allport's theory specified contact at equal power levels for stigma change to occur, 13 but this type of contact with persons with schizophrenia may be even less likely to occur in rural China given the lack of peer supports and the limited treatment (e.g., antipsychotic medication) for persons with schizophrenia in this setting.…”

“…Although community mental health care has been developed in current China, over 90% of persons with schizophrenia are cared for by their family caregivers at home in rural areas. 15 , 16 , 18 Given the limited community mental health services and the important role of family caregivers in caring for persons with schizophrenia in China, effective anti-stigma interventions for these caregivers need to be developed. This study tested the effectiveness of the ECM intervention, a new anti-stigma model, on reducing affiliate stigma of FCPWS which contributes to the contact theory by emphasizing the specific role of positive contact.…”

“… 15 , 16 , 17 However, the effectiveness of different anti-stigma strategies (e.g., contact model and psychoeducation) still remains unclear among FCPWS in rural China. Hence, the Enhancing Contact Model (ECM), a new model of comprehensive contact intervention emphasizing positive contact, 18 was firstly proposed by Dr. Ran in 2018 and introduced in this study to test its effectiveness on reducing affiliate stigma of FCPWS.…”

“…Positive contact was defined as equal, supportive, voluntary and pleasant contact. 18 , 19 , 20 It was assumed that ECM intervention could reduce affiliate stigma by enhancing FCPWS positive contact (e.g., frequency and quality of contact) with persons with schizophrenia (individual contact) and other peer family caregivers of these patients (group contact). 18 …”