Relationships between stereotyped beliefs about mental illness, discrimination experiences, and distressed mood over 1 year among persons with schizophrenia enrolled in rehabilitation

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Vol. 47; no. 6; pp. 849 - 855
• Main Authors: Lysaker, Paul H., Tunze, Chloe, Yanos, Philip T., Roe, David, Ringer, Jamie, Rand, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-06-2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age of Onset; Analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Community; Epidemiology; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Status; Humans; Indiana; Intellectual Disability - psychology; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Mental disorders; Mentally Ill Persons - psychology; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Prejudice; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Rehabilitation; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenia - rehabilitation; Schizophrenic Psychology; Self esteem; Social aspects; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Stereotyping; Stigma; Stress (Psychology); Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Time Factors; Indiana; United States > US; Indianapolis Indiana; Schizophrenia; Discrimination; Rehabilitation; Stigma; Recovery; Symptoms; Belief; Human; Affect affectivity; Mental health; Psychosis; Symptomatology; Treatment; Mood; Reeducation; Mental disorder; Public health
• ISSN: 0933-7954; 1433-9285
• DOI: 10.1007/s00127-011-0396-2

Purpose
Research suggests stereotype endorsement or self-stigma serves as a barrier to functioning and well-being among persons with schizophrenia. Little is known about how stable self-stigma is and whether it is linked over time with related constructs such as discrimination experiences and psychological distress.
Methods
Stereotype endorsement and discrimination experiences were assessed using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale and psychological distress was assessed using the Emotional Discomfort component of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, at three points in time across 1 year.
Results
Path analyses indicated that the constructs of stereotype endorsement and discrimination experiences are stable over periods of 5–7 months and may fluctuate over 12 months. Further, the constructs of stereotype endorsement and discrimination experiences were related to one another concurrently, but analyses failed to detect a relationship over time. Neither construct was related to psychological distress over time.
Conclusions
Self-stigma is a stable construct in the short term, and is distinct from related constructs such as discrimination experiences and psychological distress.