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Stigmatised attitudes towards the ‘stressed’ or ‘ill’ models of mental illness
- Authors:
- LUTY Jason, EASOW Joby Maducolil, MENDES Vania
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatrist (The), 35(10), October 2011, pp.370-373.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
Tackling discrimination, stigma and inequalities in mental health is a major objective of the UK government. This aim of this research was to determine whether there was any difference in stigmatised attitudes towards a fictitious person with a mental illness who was presented either as having a biological illness or a disorder that arose from psychosocial stress to two randomised representative panels of the general public. The 20-point Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used to assess stigmatised attitudes. The two groups were presented with slightly different vignettes describing “Tim” and then asked to complete the questionnaire. Overall, 187 individuals returned their questionnaires (74% response rate). The mean AMIQ stigma score for the ‘ill’ group was 1.4; for the ‘stress’ group was 0.5. The authors conclude that there was no statistical or practical difference in the stigmatised attitudes towards a person with mental illness regardless of whether they were presented as biologically ill or as having an illness that was a response to psychosocial stress. Some limitations of the study are noted: the self-selecting participants, the possibility of social desirability bias and whether the values expressed would be enduring.
Penetration of Time to Change leaflets on stigmatised attitudes to people with mental illness
- Authors:
- MENDES Vania, EASOW Joby Maducolil, LUTY Jason
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatrist (The), 36(10), October 2012, pp.371-374.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
In the past few years, several national anti-stigma campaigns, including the Time to Change campaign in England, have been launched to reduce negative attitudes towards the mentally ill. Unfortunately, reports suggest that these campaigns are not particularly effective. The aim of this research was to determine whether members of the general public read a leaflet from the Time to Change anti-stigma campaign. The research comprised 2 studies. In study 1, leaflets were sent to 1000 members of the public at random. Those who read the leaflet were offered £4, in a statement concealed within the text, to return the leaflet. Only 20 of the 1000 (2%) people who received the unsolicited leaflet returned them, suggesting that the vast majority were unread. Study 2 aimed to determine how much of the leaflet was read by those who had chosen to look at it. Modified leaflets were posted to 400 members of a representative panel of the UK general public who had volunteered to participate in a separate study. In different points in the text of the leaflets, the participants were asked to tick inside the brackets and return the leaflet. This achieved a good response with 29% of participants (115 of 400) reading the leaflet. The findings indicate that very few people are likely to read unsolicited leaflets, including those containing a public health message.