Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Mental Health Labels in Stigma and Status Processes

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1636924 Stephen Benard Bianca Manago Indiana University Past research has documented the serious stigma consequences of mental health labels. However, research has not examined how individuals are viewed when a mental health label is not given to explain deviant behavior; or compared how these consequences differ by the legitimacy of who provides the label (e.g., physician vs. layperson). A systematic investigation of labeling: (1) provides a better understanding of how to intervene in the stigma and status loss processes (e.g., targeting descriptions of behavior vs. mental illness labels in anti-stigma campaigns); (2) may inform physicians' decisions regarding diagnosing patients with mental illness; and (3) influences individuals' decisions regarding if, when, and how to disclose their own mental illnesses. To ensure this information is disseminated to individuals with mental illnesses and organizations dedicated to reducing mental illness stigma, the co-PI is collaborating with Bring Change 2 Mind - a national anti-stigma campaign. Finally, the proposed project will educate undergraduate research assistants by training them in social science research methodology, and teaching them the sociological implications of mental health issues. This project investigates how the presence, source, and characteristics of mental illness labels affect the desired social distance from (stigmatization), and perceived competence of (status) an individual. Specifically, the research asks: (1) When a mental health label is given to explain an individual's deviant behavior, how does that change others' evaluations of that person? (2) Does the legitimacy of the label's source (e.g., physician vs. layperson) change the label's impact? (3) How do the features of the mental illness affect this process? To examine these processes, the co-PI will complete a national survey experiment of adults in the United States. Following methods used in the 1996, 2002, and 2006 General Social Surveys, respondents will read a vignette that describes a person who is experiencing symptoms of a mental illness. The vignettes are identical except the presence/absence and source of a mental health label differ. To study the effect of uncertainty on stigma, the research compares the effects of providing a specific diagnosis (e.g., schizophrenia), to no diagnostic information, and finally, to an explicit non-diagnosis (e.g., John does not have a mental illness). To examine the effect of legitimacy, three sources of labels are considered: expert others (e.g., physician), non-expert others (e.g., friend or layperson), and the survey respondents themselves. Finally, to account for features of mental illness known to cause high levels of stigma, the co-PI will conduct four replications of this study, examining mental illnesses that: induce fear, disrupt social interaction, both, or neither. The researchers predict that when mental health labels are given to explain individual's deviant behavior, stigma will be reduced because the individual will not be held responsible for his/her behavior. They also predict that because of the physicians? perceived legitimacy, mental health labels that are applied by medical professionals, will be more effective at reducing stigma than labels that are applied by lay persons. Results will inform efforts to reduce the stigmatization and status loss of individuals with mental illness.