Implicit and explicit stigma of mental illness: links to clinical care.

Full Abstract

This study examined implicit and explicit measures of bias toward mental illness among people with different levels of mental health training, and investigated the influence of stigma on clinically-relevant decision-making. Participants (N = 1539) comprised of (1) mental health professionals and clinical graduate students, (2) other health care/social services specialists, (3) undergraduate students, and (4) the general public self-reported their attitudes toward people with mental illness, and completed implicit measures to assess mental illness evaluations that exist outside of awareness or control. In addition, participants predicted patient prognoses and assigned diagnoses after clinical vignettes. Compared with people without mental health training, individuals with mental health training demonstrated more positive implicit and explicit evaluations of people with mental illness. Further, explicit (but not implicit) biases predicted more negative patient prognoses, but implicit (and not explicit) biases predicted over-diagnosis, underscoring the value of using both implicit and explicit measures.

Author information

Author/s: Peris, Tara S (TS); Teachman, Bethany A (BA); Nosek, Brian A (BA);

Affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. tperis(-atsign-)mednet.ucla.edu

Grants: R01 MH68447 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R03 PA-03-039 (Agency:PHS HHS) ; T32 MH073517:01A1 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: The Journal of nervous and mental disease (J Nerv Ment Dis), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Oct; vol 196 (issue 10) : pp 752-60

Dates: Created 2008/10/14; Completed 2008/10/29;

PMID: 18852619, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.