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

印第安纳大学的stephen BenardBianca manago过去的研究已经记录了心理健康标签的严重耻辱后果。然而，研究并没有检查当没有给心理健康标签来解释异常行为时，人们是如何看待个人的；或者比较这些后果如何因提供标签的人的合法性而不同（例如，医生与外行人）。对标签的系统调查：(1)提供了如何干预耻辱和地位丧失过程的更好理解（例如，在反耻辱运动中针对行为与精神疾病标签的描述）；(2)可以为医生诊断精神疾病患者的决定提供信息；(3)影响个人关于是否、何时以及如何披露自己的精神疾病的决定。为了确保将这一信息传播给精神疾病患者和致力于减少精神疾病耻辱感的组织，联合倡议组织正在与全国反耻辱感运动“改变思想”（Bring Change 2 Mind）合作。最后，本计划将教育本科生研究助理，训练他们社会科学研究方法，并教导他们心理健康问题的社会学含义。这个项目调查了精神疾病标签的存在、来源和特征是如何影响个人期望的社会距离（污名化）和感知能力（地位）的。具体来说，该研究提出了以下问题：(1)当给一个人贴上心理健康标签来解释他的越轨行为时，这会如何改变别人对他的评价？(2)标签来源的合法性（例如，医生与外行人）是否会改变标签的影响？(3)心理疾病的特征如何影响这一过程？为了检验这些过程，联合调查小组将完成一项针对美国成年人的全国性调查实验。按照1996年、2002年和2006年综合社会调查中使用的方法，受访者将阅读一篇描述一个正在经历精神疾病症状的人的小短文。除了存在/不存在和精神健康标签的来源不同之外，这些小插曲是相同的。为了研究不确定性对耻辱感的影响，该研究比较了提供特定诊断（例如，精神分裂症）与不提供诊断信息的影响，最后是明确的未诊断（例如，约翰没有精神疾病）的影响。为了检查合法性的影响，考虑了三种标签来源：专家其他人（例如，医生），非专家其他人（例如，朋友或外行），以及调查受访者自己。最后，为了解释导致高度耻辱的精神疾病的特征，联合pi将对这项研究进行四次重复，检查精神疾病：引起恐惧，破坏社会互动，两者都有，或者两者都没有。研究人员预测，当心理健康标签被用来解释个人的越轨行为时，耻辱感会减少，因为个人不会对自己的行为负责。他们还预测是因为医生吗？公认的合法性，即由医疗专业人员使用的心理健康标签，将比非专业人员使用的标签更有效地减少耻辱。研究结果将有助于减少对精神疾病患者的污名化和地位丧失。

SES-1636924Stephen BenardBianca ManagoIndiana UniversityPast 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.