Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Meta-analysis of stigma and mental health
- Authors:
- MAK Winnie W. S., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 65(2), July 2007, pp.245-261.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Recent research has emphasized the adverse effects of stigma on minority groups’ mental health. Governments and service agencies have put much effort into combating stigma against a variety of conditions. Nevertheless, previous empirical research on the stigma–mental health relationship has yielded inconclusive findings, varying from strong negative to zero correlations. Thus, whether stigma is related significantly to mental health is yet to be confirmed. Using meta-analysis, the associations between stigma and mental health from 49 empirical studies were examined across various stigmatized conditions and mental health indices. Possible moderators were also explored. The mean correlation between stigma and average mental health scores corrected for sampling error, unreliability, and other artifacts was −.28 (N=10,567, k=52). No strong moderators were found, yet meaningful patterns were observed. Implications of the results are discussed.
Ethnicity, gender and mental health
- Authors:
- ROBINSON Mark, KEATING Frank, ROBERTSON Steve
- Journal article citation:
- Diversity in Health and Care, 8(2), June 2011, pp.81-92.
- Publisher:
- Radcliffe Publishing
This study investigated specific black and minority ethnic (BME) men's beliefs about mental health and their experiences of mental health services. It considered the complexities of men's gendered identities and the interplay of these with race, ethnicity and cultural influences. Twelve focus groups consisting of men from specific BME groups were held in London and the West Midlands, and the groups included: African-Caribbean, African, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese. The findings include BME men's narratives of well-being, which highlight the importance of relational and normative aspects and the influences of gender and ethnicity on aspirations, identity and values. Factors contributing to mental illness relate to gendered and racialised social expectations, economic factors, generational and gender issues, and experiences of services. The authors concluded that a mix of gendered and racialised experiences, including social stigma, the coercive power of institutions, and men's own perceptions of services contributed to cycles of disengagement and isolation for marginalised BME men with mental health problems.
Factors associated with attributions about child health conditions and social distance preference
- Authors:
- MUKOLO Abraham, HEFLINGER Craig Anne
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 47(3), June 2011, pp.286-299.
- Publisher:
- Springer
In order to better understand factors that account negative attitudes towards mental health problems, attributions about and stigma towards children’s mental and physical illnesses were examined using National Stigma Study- Children data. Parent blame attributions were most strongly associated with attention deficit disorder, environmental causes with depression, and biology with asthma. Parent blame was more frequent for mental than physical health conditions. Child blame was associated with higher preferred social distance from the child, but no clear links were observed between social distance and attributions about genetic/biology, environment, or parent blame. Rurality was not significantly associated with attributions or social distance preference. Higher educational achievement was associated with increased endorsement of environmental stress factors and reduced odds of child blaming.
Culture and stigma: adding moral experience to stigma theory
- Authors:
- YANG Lawrence Hsin, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 64(7), April 2007, pp.1524-1535.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Definitions and theoretical models of the stigma construct have gradually progressed from an individualistic focus towards an emphasis on stigma's social aspects. Building on other theorists’ notions of stigma as a social, interpretive, or cultural process, this paper introduces the notion of stigma as an essentially moral issue in which stigmatized conditions threaten what is at stake for sufferers. The concept of moral experience, or what is most at stake for actors in a local social world, provides a new interpretive lens by which to understand the behaviours of both the stigmatized and stigmatizers, for it allows an examination of both as living with regard to what really matters and what is threatened. We hypothesize that stigma exerts its core effects by threatening the loss or diminution of what is most at stake, or by actually diminishing or destroying that lived value. We utilize two case examples of stigma—mental illness in China and first-onset schizophrenia patients in the United States—to illustrate this concept. We further utilize the Chinese example of ‘face’ to illustrate stigma as having dimensions that are moral-somatic (where values are linked to physical experiences) and moral-emotional (values are linked to emotional states). After reviewing literature on how existing stigma theory has led to a predominance of research assessing the individual, we conclude by outlining how the concept of moral experience may inform future stigma measurement. We propose that by identifying how stigma is a moral experience, new targets can be created for anti-stigma intervention programs and their evaluation. Further, we recommend the use of transactional methodologies and multiple perspectives and methods to more fully capture the interpersonal core of stigma as framed by theories of moral experience.
Stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness among racial/ethnic older adults in primary care
- Authors:
- JIMENEZ Daniel E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(10), 2013, pp.1061-1068.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study examines to what extent race/ethnicity is associated with differences in perceived stigma of mental illness and perceived stigma for different mental health treatment options. Analyses were conducted using baseline data collected from participants who completed the SAMHSA Mental Health and Alcohol Abuse Stigma Assessment, developed for the PRISM-E (Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for the Elderly) study, a multisite randomized trial for older adults (65+ years) with depression, anxiety, or at-risk alcohol consumption. The final sample consisted of 1247 non-Latino Whites, 536 African-Americans, 112 Asian-Americans, and 303 Latinos from across the USA. African-Americans and Latinos expressed greater comfort in speaking to primary care physicians or mental health professionals concerning mental illness compared with non-Latino Whites. Asian-Americans and Latinos expressed greater shame and embarrassment about having a mental illness than non-Latino Whites. Asian-Americans expressed greater difficulty in seeking or engaging in mental health treatment. The study concludes that racial/ethnic differences exist among older adults with mental illness with respect to stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness and mental health treatment. The results could help researchers and clinicians educate racial/ethnic minority older adults about mental illness and engage them in much needed mental health services. (Edited publisher abstract)
Church ladies, good girls, and locas: stigma and the intersection of gender, ethnicity, mental illness, and sexuality in relation to HIV risk
- Authors:
- COLLINS Pamela Y., VON UNGER Hella, ARMBRISTER Adria
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 67(3), August 2008, pp.389-397.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Inner city women with severe mental illness may carry multiple stigmatised statuses. In some contexts these include having a mental illness, being a member of an ethnic minority group, being an immigrant, being poor and being a woman who does not live up to gendered expectations. These potentially stigmatising identities influence both the way women's sexuality is viewed and their risk for HIV infection. This qualitative study applies the concept of intersectionality to facilitate understanding of how these multiple identities intersect to influence women's sexuality and HIV risk. The authors report the first-hand accounts of 24 Latina women living with severe mental illness in New York City. In examining the interlocking domains of these women's sexual lives, they found that the women seek identities that define them in opposition to the stigmatising label of “loca” (Spanish for crazy) and bestow respect and dignity. These identities have unfolded through the additional themes of “good girls” and “church ladies”. Therefore, in spite of their association with the “loca”, the women also identify with faith and religion (“church ladies”) and uphold more traditional gender norms (“good girls”) that are often undermined by the realities of life with a severe mental illness and the stigma attached to it. However, the participants fall short of their gender ideals and engage in sexual relationships that they experience as disempowering and unsatisfying. The effects of their multiple identities as poor Latina women living with severe mental illness in an urban ethnic minority community are not always additive, but the interlocking effects can facilitate increased HIV risks. Interventions should acknowledge women's multiple layers of vulnerability, both individual and structural, and stress women's empowerment in and beyond the sexual realm.
A sociology of mental health and illness
- Authors:
- ROGERS Anne, PILGRIM David
- Publisher:
- Open University Press
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 327p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Maidenhead
- Edition:
- 4th ed.
This fourth edition updates existing chapters and contains a new chapter entitled ‘public health and the pursuit of happiness’ reflecting the recent focus on the creation of mentally healthy societies. The editors aim to further dismantle professional pretensions surrounding the mastery of mental health problems by focusing on the social, economic and political determinants of mental well-being and highlighting the recent and considerable changes in sociology, social psychiatry, policy analysis and therapeutic law. Chapters cover: Perspectives on mental health, including those from psychiatry, psychoanalysis and psychology; Stigma revisited and lay representations of mental health problems; Social class and mental health; Women and men; Race and ethnicity; Age and ageing; Mental health professions; Treatment of people with mental health problems; Organisation of mental health work; Psychiatry and legal control; and Users of mental health services.