Stigma in mental health settings

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award proposes training in public health theory and research methodology in order to prepare a clinical psychologist to conduct independent research translating basic cognitive, behavioral, and social psychological principles to a public health model of stigma in mental health settings. Stigma against people with mental illness was identified as an important public health problem by the U.S. Surgeon General (1999) and the President's New Freedom Commission (2003) along with subsequent request-for-applications for research investigating stigma (e.g., PAR-04-112) by the National Institute of Mental Health. The training plan for this proposal enlists the mentorship of Drs. Larry Davidson, Bruce Link, and Patrick Corrigan leading researchers in stigma and recovery from mental illness, along with other internationally recognized experts in stigma (Amerigo Farina, Jo Phelan) and qualitative research methodology (Tanya Luhrmann, Patricia Deegan). Training in public health theory and methodology is proposed through intensive mentored supervision, a focused series of public health classes, and individualized directed readings related to a multi-method research design whose goal is to determine the factors most important to the establishment and perpetuation of stigma in mental health settings. Study 1 will empirically test a theoretically-based, comprehensive public health model of stigma using established measures to determine the variables that are the most important to stigma in mental health settings. Study 2 will use experimental vignettes to manipulate a variable in this model (i.e., attributions about the causes of mental illness) to observe its effects on other model variables. Study 3 will use a laboratory-based behavioral paradigm to experimentally evaluate the power differential between clinicians and consumers in mental health settings. Study 4 will use qualitative research methods to understand the social context of mental health settings and the lived experience of consumers and clinicians in mental health settings in order to enhance the understanding of the empirical results from the earlier studies. This multi-method research is the first comprehensive study of the important public health problem of stigma within mental health settings. Results from these studies could serve as a foundation for targeted interventions to reduce stigma in these settings.