Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar;64(3):209-217.
doi: 10.1177/0706743718792193. Epub 2018 Jul 29.

Mental Health Stigma: Explicit and Implicit Attitudes of Canadian Undergraduate Students, Medical School Students, and Psychiatrists

Harman S Sandhu  1 , Anish Arora  2 , Jennifer Brasch  3 , David L Streiner  3   4
Affiliations

Mental Health Stigma: Explicit and Implicit Attitudes of Canadian Undergraduate Students, Medical School Students, and Psychiatrists

Harman S Sandhu et al. Can J Psychiatry. 2019 Mar.

Abstract
in English, French

Objectives: To compare explicit and implicit stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness among undergraduate students, medical school students, and psychiatrists, and to assess whether attitudes are associated with education level, exposure to, and personal experience with mental illness.

Methods: Participants from McMaster University were recruited through email. Participants completed a web-based survey consisting of demographics; the Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers (OMS-HC) 12-item survey, which measures explicit stigma; and an Implicit Association Test (IAT), measuring implicit bias toward physical illness (diabetes mellitus) or mental illness (schizophrenia).

Results: A total of 538 people participated: undergraduate students ( n = 382), medical school students ( n = 118), and psychiatrists ( n = 38). Psychiatrists had significantly lower explicit and implicit stigma than undergraduate students and medical school students. Having been diagnosed with mental illness or having had a relationship with someone experiencing one was significantly associated with lower explicit stigma. Mean scores on the OMS-HC "disclosure/help-seeking" subscale were higher compared with the "attitudes towards people with mental illness" subscale. There was no correlation between the OMS-HC and IAT.

Conclusions: These findings support the theory that increased education and experience with mental illness are associated with reduced stigma. Attitudes regarding disclosure/help-seeking were more stigmatizing than attitudes towards people with mental illness. The groups identified in this study can potentially benefit from anti-stigma campaigns that focus on reducing specific components of explicit, implicit, public and self-stigma.

Objectifs :: Comparer les attitudes stigmatisantes explicites et implicites à l’égard de la maladie mentale chez les étudiants de premier cycle, les étudiants en médecine et les psychiatres, et évaluer si les attitudes sont associées au niveau d’instruction, à l’exposition à la maladie mentale et à l’expérience personnelle de la maladie mentale.

Méthodes :: Les participants de l’Université McMaster ont été recrutés par courriel. Les participants ont répondu à un sondage en ligne qui comportait des données démographiques, l’échelle de Changer les mentalités pour les prestataires de soins de santé (OMS-HC) en 12 items qui mesure les stigmates explicites, et le Test d’association implicite (IAT) qui mesure le biais implicite à l’égard de la maladie physique (diabète de type 2) ou de la maladie mentale (schizophrénie).

Résultats :: En tout, 538 personnes ont participé: étudiants de premier cycle (n = 382), étudiants en médecine (n = 118), et psychiatres (n = 38). Les psychiatres avaient des stigmates explicites et implicites significativement plus faibles que les étudiants de premier cycle et les étudiants en médecine. Avoir reçu un diagnostic de maladie mentale ou avoir eu une relation avec une personne souffrant d’une maladie mentale était significativement associé à des stigmates explicites plus faibles. Les scores moyens à la sous-échelle « divulgation/recherche d’aide » de l’OMS-HC étaient plus élevés comparé à la sous-échelle « attitudes envers les gens souffrant de maladie mentale ». Il n’y avait pas de corrélation entre l’OMS-HC et l’IAT.

Keywords: academic psychiatry; attitude; implicit association test; medical education; mental health; mental illness; opening minds scale for healthcare providers; stigma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Statistics Canada. Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health [2012]. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2013001/article/tbl/tbl1-eng.htm. 2015. Accessed December 1, 2017.
    1. Canadian Mental Health Association. Fast Facts About Mental Illness. https://cmha.ca/about-cmha/fast-facts-about-mental-illness. Accessed April 13, 2018.
    1. Corrigan PW. Mental health stigma as social attribution: implications for research mehtods and attitude change. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2000;7(1):48–67. doi:10.1093/clipsy.7.1.48.
    1. Corrigan PW, Shapiro JR. Measuring the impact of programs that challenge the public stigma of mental illness. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010;30(8):907–922. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.06.004. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Corrigan PW, Rao D. On the self-stigma of mental illness: stages, disclosure, and strategies for change. Can J Psychiatry. 2012;57(8):464–469. doi:10.1177/070674371205700804. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources