Predictors of stigma in a sample of mental health professionals: Network and moderator analysis on gender, years of experience, personality traits, and levels of burnout

Abstract

Background. Stigma is one of the most important barriers to help-seeking and to personal recovery for people suffering from mental disorders. Stigmatizing attitudes are present among mental health professionals with negative effects on the quality of health care. Methods. Network and moderator analysis were used to identify what path determines stigma, considering demographic and professional variables, personality traits, and burnout dimensions in a sample of mental health professionals (n = 318) from six Community Mental Health Services. The survey included the Attribution Questionnaire-9, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. Results. The personality trait of openness to new experiences resulted to determine lower levels of stigma. Burnout (personal accomplishment) interacted with emotional stability in predicting stigma, and specifically, for subjects with lower emotional stability lower levels of personal accomplishment were associated with higher levels of stigma. Conclusions. Some personality traits may be accompanied by better empathic and communication skills, and may have a protective role against stigma. Moreover, burnout can increase stigma, in particular in subjects with specific personality traits. Assessing personality and burnout levels could help in identifying mental health professionals at higher risk of developing stigma. Future studies should determine whether targeted interventions in mental health professionals at risk of developing stigma may be effective in stigma prevention.

Mental Health Professionals’ Attitudes Towards People with Severe Mental Illness: Are they Related to Professional Quality of Life?

“…In our sample, high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were related to stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness, while a high level of personal accomplishment was associated with more favorable attitudes. The results of the present study are consistent with those of recent field research showing that emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment predict the stigmatizing attitudes of MHPs towards people with mental disorders (Holmqvist & Jeanneau, 2006 ; Solmi et al, 2020 ; Zaninotto et al, 2018 ). In their study, Holmqvist and Jeanneau ( 2006 ) showed that MHPs’ burnout levels, measured in terms of tedium, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment, were associated with MHPs’ feelings towards service users with a mental illness diagnosis.…”

“…Along with individual factors contributing to MHPs attitudes towards mental illness, such as empathy levels (Economou et al, 2019 ) and personality traits (Solmi et al, 2020 ), work environment and practice-related factors may also play a significant role in service provision. Specifically, practice-related factors such as the length of practice (Hsiao et al, 2015 ; Stuber et al, 2014 ), work setting (Hsiao et al, 2015 ; Linden & Kavanagh, 2011 ), and the type of mental health profession (Lebowitz & Ahn, 2014 ; Reavley et al, 2013 ; Smith et al, 2017 ) appear to be associated with MHPs stigmatizing attitudes towards service users.…”

“…Limited previous studies have focused separately on the links between burnout and stigma among MHPs (Holmqvist & Jeanneau, 2006 ; Solmi et al, 2020 ; Zaninotto et al, 2018 ). In the study by Holmqvist and Jeanneau ( 2006 ) all three burnout dimensions were correlated with MHPs' negative feelings toward people with a severe mental illness.…”

“…More recent findings suggest that a lower level of personal accomplishment was associated with avoidant attitudes toward service users (Zaninotto et al, 2018 ). Furthermore, higher levels of burnout in terms of low personal accomplishment were associated with more negative views about people with severe mental illness, particularly in those MHPs showing lower emotional stability (Solmi et al, 2020 ). To the best of our knowledge, no previous research has focused on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction concerning MHPs' attitudes towards mental illness.…”

Mental health professionals view about the impact of male gender for the treatment of men with depression - a qualitative study

“…Therefore, a more differentiated understanding on the diverse implications of masculinity for mental health would be essential with regards to future interventions, for which further research that incorporates a critical examination of traditional masculinity is required [45]. Interventions to reduce mental illness stigma in health professionals may need to run a multilevel approach, adjusted to groups of health professionals with varying characteristics of stigmatising attitudes [46,47] personality characteristics and job strain of MHPs [48].…”