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By the 1990s, sociology faced a frustrating paradox. Classic work on mental illness stigma and labeling theory reinforced that the \"mark\" of mental illness created prejudice and discrimination for individuals and family members. Yet that foundation, coupled with deinstitutionalization of mental health care, produced contradictory responses. Claims that stigma was dissipating were made, while others argued that intervention efforts were needed to reduce stigma. While signaling the critical role of theory-based research in establishing the pervasive effects of stigma, both claims directed resources away from social science research. Yet the contemporary scientific foundation underlying both claims was weak. A reply came in a resurgence of research directed toward mental illness stigma nationally and internationally, bringing together researchers from different disciplines for the first time. I report on the general population's attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral dispositions that targeted public stigma and implications for the next decade of research and intervention efforts.

Little is known about how the views of the public are related to self-stigma among people with mental health problems. Despite increasing activity aimed at reducing mental illness stigma, there is little evidence to guide and inform specific anti-stigma campaign development and messages to be used in mass campaigns. A better understanding of the association between public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours and the internalization of stigma among people with mental health problems is needed. This study links two large, international datasets to explore the association between public stigma in 14 European countries (Eurobarometer survey) and individual reports of self-stigma, perceived discrimination and empowerment among persons with mental illness (n=1835) residing in those countries [the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks (GAMIAN) study]. Individuals with mental illness living in countries with less stigmatizing attitudes, higher rates of help-seeking and treatment utilization and better perceived access to information had lower rates of self-stigma and perceived discrimination and those living in countries where the public felt more comfortable talking to people with mental illness had less self-stigma and felt more empowered. Targeting the general public through mass anti-stigma interventions may lead to a virtuous cycle by disrupting the negative feedback engendered by public stigma, thereby reducing self-stigma among people with mental health problems. A combined approach involving knowledge, attitudes and behaviour is needed; mass interventions that facilitate disclosure and positive social contact may be the most effective. Improving availability of information about mental health issues and facilitating access to care and help-seeking also show promise with regard to stigma.

Purpose Stigma is a frequent accompaniment of mental illness leading to a number of detrimental consequences. Most research into the stigma connected to mental illness was conducted in the developed world. So far, few data exist on countries in sub-Saharan Africa and no data have been published on population attitudes towards mental illness in Ghana. Even less is known about the stigma actually perceived by the mentally ill persons themselves. Method A convenience sample of 403 participants (210 men, mean age 32.4 ± 12.3 years) from urban regions in Accra, Cape Coast and Pantang filled in the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire. In addition, 105 patients (75 men, mean age 35.9 ± 11.0 years) of Ghana’s three psychiatric hospitals (Accra Psychiatry Hospital, Ankaful Hospital, Pantang Hospital) answered the Perceived Stigma and Discrimination Scale. Results High levels of stigma prevailed in the population as shown by high proportions of assent to items expressing authoritarian and socially restrictive views, coexisting with agreement with more benevolent attitudes. A higher level of education was associated with more positive attitudes on all subscales (Authoritarianism, Social Restrictiveness, Benevolence and Acceptance of Community Based Mental Health Services). The patients reported a high degree of experienced stigma with secrecy concerning the illness as a widespread coping strategy. Perceived stigma was not associated with sex or age. Discussion The extent of stigmatising attitudes within the urban population of Southern Ghana is in line with the scant research in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and mirrored by the experienced stigma reported by the patients. These results have to be seen in the context of the extreme scarcity of resources within the Ghanaian psychiatric system. Anti-stigma efforts should include interventions for mentally ill persons themselves and not exclusively focus on public attitudes.

Self-stigma is distinguished from perceived stigma (stereotype awareness) and presented as a three-level model: stereotype agreement, self-concurrence, and self-esteem decrement. The relationships between elements of this model and self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression are examined in this study. In Study 1, 54 people with psychiatric disabilities completed a draft version of the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (SSMIS) to determine internal consistency and test-retest reliability of composite scales. In Study 2, 60 people with psychiatric disabilities completed the revised SSMIS plus instruments that represent self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression. Stereotype awareness was found to not be significantly associated with the three levels of self-stigma. The remaining three levels were significantly intercorrelated. Self-concurrence and self-esteem decrement were significantly associated with measures of self-esteem and self-efficacy. These associations remained significant after partialing out concurrent depression. Implications for better understanding self-stigma are discussed. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Objective To investigate the prevailing attitudes towards mental health help-seeking in Europe, their correlates, and whether these attitudes are associated with actual service use for mental health problems. Method Data were derived from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, a survey representative of the adult population of six countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain ( n  = 8,796). The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess attitudes and DSM-IV diagnoses. The attitudes referred to beliefs that the respondents would seek professional help when faced with a serious emotional problem, would feel comfortable talking about personal problems with a professional, would not be embarrassed if friends knew about the professional help, and respondents’ perceived effectiveness of mental health care. Results Almost a third of the respondents held the view that professional care was worse than or equal to no help when faced with serious emotional problems. Female gender, being younger than 65 years of age, high income, living in Spain or Italy, presence of mood disorder and previous service use were associated with at least two of the four assessed attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. All four attitudes were significantly associated with mental health care use, also after adjustment for previous service use. Conclusion The low perceived effectiveness of professional care calls for serious action aiming to improve the visibility and credibility of the mental health care sector.

In our society, persons with disabilities are often subject to stereotyping and they may give rise to feelings of fear and rejection. These reactions refer to attitudes, that is, the more or less positive evaluations of an object (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Scientific literature has been greatly interested in attitudes—toward persons with disabilities (Breen, 2018; Palad et al., 2016) and the education of students with disabilities (Desombre et al., 2019; Donath et al., 2023)—and the extent to which those attitudes are likely to predict inclusive behaviours (Ajzen, 1991). This purpose of this article is to take stock of the tools available to measure explicit attitudes toward persons with disabilities in various contexts. This systematic literature review was carried out using the Prisma method and the databases of APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles and the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; it groups together articles published in French and in English between January 2000 and June 2021. In total, 77 articles out of 837 were selected for review. The analysis of these articles allowed us to identify 22 tools to measure attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Comparisons between these tools are their uses are discussed in this article. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)

Objective: To evaluate the impact on the general public of England's Time to Change program to reduce mental health-related stigma and discrimination using newly developed measures of knowledge and intended behaviour regarding people with mental health problems, and an established attitudes scale, and to investigate whether social desirability affects responses to the new measures and test whether this varies according to data collection method. Method: The Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) and Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) were administered together with the 13-item version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale to 2 samples (each n = 196) drawn from the Time to Change mass media campaign target group; one group was interviewed face to face, while the other completed the measures as an online survey. Results: After controlling for other covariates, interaction terms between collection method and social desirability were positive for each instrument. The social desirability score was associated with the RIBS score in the face-to-face group only (β = 0.35, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.57), but not with the MAKS score in either group; however, MAKS scores were more likely to be positive when data were collected face to face (β = 1.53, 95% CI 0.74 to 2.32). Conclusions: Behavioural intentions toward people with mental health problems may be better assessed using online self-complete methods than in-person interviews. The effect of face-to-face interviewing on knowledge requires further investigation.

Background Promoting help-seeking for mental health problems can result in improved treatment rates. For the most impact, social marketing interventions need to be tailored to targeted demographic subgroups. We investigated the influence of interactions between attitudes toward treatment and age, gender, ethnicity/race and education for both general medical and specialty care. Method Cross-sectional data from the 2001–2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) were analyzed using multivariate models adjusted for the sampling design and controlled for relevant clinical and sociodemographic factors. Results Greater comfort talking to a professional was associated with greater past-year specialty care across all demographic groups, while strongest for non-Latino whites and not evident for those 50–64 years old. For all demographic groups, reported willingness to seek professional help was associated with general medical care. However, for specialty care the association was much stronger for men compared to women. For African Americans, but not non-Latino whites, the perceived efficacy of mental health treatment improved the likelihood of past-year specialty use. Conclusion Our analyses suggest both the importance of understanding demographic differences in relevant attitudes and potential directions for marketing campaigns.

Objectives: Much research suggests that the general public relies on the popular media as a primary source of information about mental illness. We assessed the broad content of articles relating to mental illness in major Canadian newspapers over a 6-year period. We also sought to assess if such content has changed over time. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage from 2005 to 2010. Research assistants used a standardized guide to code 11 263 newspaper articles that mention the terms mental health, mental illness, schizophrenia, or schizophrenic. Once the articles were coded, descriptive statistics were produced for overarching themes and time trend analyses from 2005 to 2010. Results: Danger, violence, and criminality were direct themes in 40% of newspaper articles. Treatment for a mental illness was discussed in only 19% of newspaper articles, and in only 18% was recovery or rehabilitation a significant theme. Eighty-three per cent of articles coded lacked a quotation from someone with a mental illness. We did not observe any significant changes overtime from 2005 to 2010 in any domain measured. Conclusion: There is scope for more balanced, accurate, and informative coverage of mental health issues in Canada. Newspaper articles infrequently reflect the common realities of mental illness phenomenology, course, and outcome. Currently, clinicians may direct patients and family members to other resources for more comprehensive and accurate information about mental illness.

In this study, we build on previous work by developing and estimating a model of the relationships between causal attributions (e.g., controllability, responsibility), familiarity with mental illness, dangerousness, emotional responses (e.g., pity, anger, fear), and helping and rejecting responses. Using survey data containing responses to hypothetical vignettes, we examine these relationships in a sample of 518 community college students. Consistent with attribution theory, causal attributions affect beliefs about persons' responsibility for causing their condition, beliefs which in turn lead to affective reactions, resulting in rejecting responses such as avoidance, coercion, segregation, and withholding help. However, consistent with a danger appraisal hypothesis, the effects of perceptions of dangerousness on helping and rejecting responses are unmediated by responsibility beliefs. Much of the dangerousness effects operate by increasing fear, a particularly strong predictor of support for coercive treatment. The results from this study also suggest that familiarity with mental illness reduces discriminatory responses.