Recent advances in cross-cultural measurement in psychiatric epidemiology: utilizing 'what matters most' to identify culture-specific aspects of stigma

Abstract

Quantitatively-derived, culturally-specific stigma measures were lacking. Further, the vast majority of qualitative studies on stigma were conducted without using stigma-specific frameworks. We propose the 'what matters most' approach to address this key issue in future research.

Anti-stigma interventions in high- and lower-income settings – a lot remains to be done

“…There are at least two problems here: the need to adapt measures and their content to the local culture; and the issue of perceived legitimacy of discrimination. Regarding the adaptation of stigma measures we agree with the authors and the 'what matters most' approach (Yang et al 2014) that this adaptation is helpful. However there may be a downside, at least for quantitative studies, that findings will be more difficult to compare across settings, including the efficacy of anti-stigma interventions.…”

Stigma and discrimination related to mental illness in low- and middle-income countries

“…Nevertheless, studies which include measures developed or validated in LAMICs and/or non-Western European cultures are still rare and only a few include a component focused on stigma which was developed specifically in a LAMIC country and/or non-Western European cultural setting (Thornicroft et al, in press). A recent systematic review (Yang et al 2014) assessed studies of stigma in non-Western European cultural groups and found that 77% identified studies assessed stigma using an adaptation of an existing measure which was developed in Western European countries. Moreover, only 2% studies used stigma measures which were derived within a non-Western European cultural group.…”

Stigma toward mental illness in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review

“…12 Indeed, in a recent systematic review, Yang et al found that the vast majority of studies analyzed (77%) utilized adaptations of existing Western-developed stigma measures. 13 Culture, stigma, and Latin America…”