The DOI matches its Crossref record; 60 of the 60 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Interventions to Reduce Stigma Related to Mental Illnesses in Educational Institutes: a Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
This investigation reviews the effectiveness of anti-stigma interventions employed at educational institutes; to improve knowledge, attitude and beliefs regarding mental health disorders among students. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist guidelines were followed and protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018114535). Forty four randomized controlled trials were considered eligible after screening of 104 full-text articles against inclusion and exclusion criteria.Several interventions have been employed to tackle stigma toward psychiatric illnesses, including education through lectures and case scenarios, contact-based interventions, and role-plays as strategies to address stigma towards mental illnesses. A high proportion of trials noted that there was a significant improvement for stigma (19/25, 76%), attitude (8/11, 72%), helping-seeking (8/11, 72%), knowledge of mental health including recognition of depression (11/14, 78%), and social distance (4/7, 57%). These interventions also helped in reducing both public and self-stigma. Majority of the studies showed that the anti-stigma interventions were successful in improving mental health literacy, attitude and beliefs towards mental health illnesses.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Figures
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Psychoeducation was used most often (25 studies) followed by social contact-based interventions (ten studies).”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“Stigma was directly targeted in 25 studies, of which 19 showed significant improvements.”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“most studies which assessed attitudes showed positive changes (eight of 11)”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“The overall quality of these studies was quite low, with 35 (80%) showing a high risk of bias.”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“four of seven that measured social distance also reported improvements.”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“Waqas and colleagues 116 conducted a systematic review of anti-stigma interventions in educational institutions.”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“They identified 44 studies, of which 36 (82%) had been published since 2009.”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
In the citing paper
“Most of the included trials had been conducted in HICs, with only six studies having been done in MICs including China (n=2), Russia (n=2), Nigeria (n=1), and Brazil (n=1).”
From The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health (2022) · cites this paper as [116]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100 · Cited by 28,164
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00136 · Cited by 10,349
Mental illness stigma: Concepts, consequences, and initiatives to reduce stigma
Rüsch, N., Angermeyer, M. C., & Corrigan, P. W. (2005) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2005.04.004 · Cited by 1,832
Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness.
(2002) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 1,786
Global Burden of Disease and the Impact of Mental and Addictive Disorders
Rehm, J., & Shield, K. D. (2019) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-019-0997-0 · Cited by 1,388
Evidence for effective interventions to reduce mental-health-related stigma and discrimination
Thornicroft, G., Mehta, N., Clement, S., Evans-Lacko, S., Doherty, M., Rose, D., Koschorke, M., Shidhaye, R., O'Reilly, C., & Henderson, C. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(15)00298-6 · Cited by 1,338
Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing it
Byrne, P. (2000) · Advances in Psychiatric Treatment · doi:10.1192/apt.6.1.65 · Cited by 503
Interventions to reduce discrimination and stigma: the state of the art
Gronholm, P. C., Henderson, C., Deb, T., & Thornicroft, G. (2017) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-017-1341-9 · Cited by 401
Beliefs and perception about mental health issues: a meta-synthesis
Choudhry, F. R., Mani, V., Ming, L. C., & Khan, T. M. (2016) · Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment · doi:10.2147/ndt.s111543 · Cited by 263
Schomerus, G., Stolzenburg, S., Freitag, S., Speerforck, S., Janowitz, D., Evans-Lacko, S., Muehlan, H., & Schmidt, S. (2019) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-018-0896-0 · Cited by 214
Pinto, M. D., Logsdon, M. C., & Myers, J. A. (2011) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.04.006 · Cited by 213
Filmed v. live social contact interventions to reduce stigma: randomised controlled trial
Clement, S., van Nieuwenhuizen, A., Kassam, A., Flach, C., Lazarus, A., Castro, M. D., McCrone, P., Norman, I. J., & Thornicroft, G. (2011) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.111.093120 · Cited by 188
Atlas : child and adolescent mental health resources : global concerns : implications for the future
Professions, A. (2005) · World Health Organization eBooks · Cited by 183
Chan, J. N., Mak, W. W. S., & Law, L. S. (2009) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.016 · Cited by 173
Perry, Y., Petrie, K., Buckley, H., Cavanagh, L., Clarke, D., Winslade, M., Hadzi‐Pavlovic, D., Manicavasagar, V., & Christensen, H. (2014) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.08.001 · Cited by 167
Papish, A. L., Kassam, A., Modgill, G., Vaz, G., Zanussi, L., & Patten, S. B. (2013) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/1472-6920-13-141 · Cited by 158
Gatekeeper training and access to mental health care at universities and colleges
Lipson, S. K., Speer, N., Brunwasser, S., Hahn, E., & Eisenberg, D. (2014) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.05.009 · Cited by 157
King, C. A., Eisenberg, D., Zheng, K., Czyz, E., Kramer, A., Horwitz, A., & Chermack, S. (2015) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0038805 · Cited by 147
Chisholm, K., Patterson, P. H., Torgerson, C. J., Turner, E., Jenkinson, D., & Birchwood, M. J. (2016) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009435 · Cited by 144
Esters, I. G., Cooker, P. G., & Ittenbach, R. F. (1998) · PubMed · Cited by 138
Understanding stigma: Dimensions of deviance and coping
Elliott, G. C., Ziegler, H. L., Altman, B., & Scott, D. (1982) · Deviant Behavior · doi:10.1080/01639625.1982.9967590 · Cited by 138
Mann, C. E., & Himelein, M. J. (2008) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0324-2 · Cited by 130
Hart, L., Morgan, A. J., Rossetto, A., Kelly, C. M., Mackinnon, A. J., & Jorm, A. F. (2018) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867417753552 · Cited by 115
Evaluation of a Fotonovela to Increase Depression Knowledge and Reduce Stigma Among Hispanic Adults
Unger, J. B., Cabassa, L. J., Molina, G. B., Contreras, S., & Baron, M. F. (2012) · Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health · doi:10.1007/s10903-012-9623-5 · Cited by 110
Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness Among College Students
Kosyluk, K. A., Al‐Khouja, M., Bink, A. B., Buchholz, B. A., Ellefson, S. E., Fokuo, J. K., Goldberg, D., Kraus, D. J., León, A., Michaels, P., et al. (2016) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.05.005 · Cited by 98
Winkler, P., Janoušková, M., Kožený, J., Pasz, J., Mladá, K., Weissová, A., Tušková, E., & Evans-Lacko, S. E. (2017) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-017-1449-y · Cited by 97
Randomized study of different anti-stigma media
Finkelstein, J., Lapshin, O., & Wasserman, E. L. (2008) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2008.01.002 · Cited by 96
Sharp, W., Hargrove, D. S., Johnson, L., & Deal, W. P. (2006) · Journal of College Student Development · doi:10.1353/csd.2006.0051 · Cited by 92
Ranson, N. J., & Byrne, M. K. (2014) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2139-1 · Cited by 89
Burns, S., Crawford, G., Hallett, J., Hunt, K., Chih, H. J., & Tilley, P. J. M. (2017) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1278-2 · Cited by 88
Economou, M. P., Louki, E., Peppou, L. Ε., Gramandani, C., Yotis, L., & STEFANIS, C. N. (2011) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764011413678 · Cited by 87
Reducing the stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy through self-affirmation.
Lannin, D. G., Guyll, M., Vogel, D. L., & Madon, S. (2013) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0033789 · Cited by 86
The Effects of a Multi-Component Higher-Functioning Autism Anti-Stigma Program on Adolescent Boys
Staniland, J. J., & Byrne, M. K. (2013) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1829-4 · Cited by 84
Mental health stigma: Impact on mental health treatment attitudes and physical health
Sickel, A. E., Seacat, J. D., & Nabors, N. A. (2019) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105316681430 · Cited by 82
Swartz, K., Musci, R. J., Beaudry, M. B., Heley, K. M., Miller, L., Alfes, C., Townsend, L. D., Thornicroft, G., & Wilcox, H. C. (2017) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2017.304088 · Cited by 76
Waqas, A., Zubair, M., Ghulam, H., Ullah, M. W., & Tariq, M. Z. (2014) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.698 · Cited by 71
Self-citationKoike, S., Yamaguchi, S., Ojio, Y., Ohta, K., Shimada, T., Watanabe, K., Thornicroft, G., & Ando, S. (2016) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796016001050 · Cited by 68
Corrigan, P. W., Rafacz, J. D., Hautamaki, J. B., Walton, J. L., Rüsch, N., Rao, D., Doyle, P., O’Brien, S., Pryor, J. B., & Reeder, G. D. (2010) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-009-9287-3 · Cited by 60
Rusch, L. C., Kanter, J. W., & Brondino, M. J. (2009) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e318192416f · Cited by 60
Woods, D. W., & Marcks, B. A. (2005) · Behavior Modification · doi:10.1177/0145445505279379 · Cited by 59
Chung, K., & CHAN, J. H. (2004) · Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences · doi:10.1111/j.1440-1819.2004.01293.x · Cited by 52
Howard, K. A., Griffiths, K. M., McKetin, R., & Ma, J. (2018) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.2989/17280583.2018.1467323 · Cited by 49
Pereira, C. A., Wen, C. L., Miguel, E. C., & Polanczyk, G. V. (2015) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0642-8 · Cited by 46
Effectiveness of an intervention for reducing social stigma towards mental illness in adolescents
Vila‐Badia, R., Martínez-Zambrano, F., Arenas, O., Casas-Anguera, E., García-Morales, E., Villellas, R., Martín, J. R. G., Pérez-Franco, M. B., Valduciel, T., Casellas, D., et al. (2016) · World Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.5498/wjp.v6.i2.239 · Cited by 46
Haddad, M., Waqas, A., Qayyum, W., Shams, M., & Malik, S. (2016) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-016-1069-1 · Cited by 44
Self-citationEconomou, M. P., Peppou, L. Ε., Geroulanou, K. C., Louki, E., Tsaliagkou, I., Kolostoumpis, D., & Stefanis, C. N. (2012) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/j.1475-3588.2012.00669.x · Cited by 40
Oduguwa, A. O., Adedokun, B., & Omigbodun, O. O. (2017) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health · doi:10.1186/s13034-017-0157-4 · Cited by 40
Cabassa, L. J., Oh, H. Y., Humensky, J. L., Unger, J. B., Molina, G. B., & Baron, M. F. (2014) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201400146 · Cited by 36
Changing the Attitudes of Hong Kong Medical Students Toward People With Mental Illness
Chung, K. (2005) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000185871.20390.c6 · Cited by 35
Han, D., & Chen, S. (2014) · Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences · doi:10.1111/pcn.12174 · Cited by 33
Bannatyne, A. J., & Stapleton, P. (2014) · Eating Disorders · doi:10.1080/10640266.2014.976102 · Cited by 30
An Examination of the Impact of a Biological Anti-Stigma Message for Depression on College Students
Boucher, L. A., & Campbell, D. G. (2014) · Journal of College Student Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/87568225.2014.854686 · Cited by 26
A mental health promotion approach to reducing discrimination about psychosis in teenagers
Campbell, M., Shryane, N. M., Byrne, R. E., & Morrison, A. P. (2010) · Psychosis · doi:10.1080/17522431003735529 · Cited by 25
The Use of a Video to Reduce Mental Health Stigma Among Adolescents
Gonçalves, M., Moleiro, C., & Cook, B. (2015) · Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.2174/2210676605666150521232049 · Cited by 25
Haddad, M., Waqas, A., Sukhera, A. B., & Tarar, A. Z. (2017) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2652-3 · Cited by 18
Self-citationSakellari, Ε., Lehtonen, K., Sourander, A., Kalokerinou‐Anagnostopoulou, A., & Leino‐Kilpi, H. (2014) · Nursing and Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.12113 · Cited by 17
Giannakopoulos, G., Assimopoulos, H., Petanidou, D., Tzavara, C. K., Kolaitis, G. A., & Tsiantis, J. (2012) · Mental Illness · doi:10.4081/mi.2012.e16 · Cited by 16
Nam, S. K., Choi, S. I., & Lee, S. M. (2015) · Psychological Services · doi:10.1037/a0038713 · Cited by 16
Kashihara, J. (2015) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/15.pr0.116k20w9 · Cited by 11
Waqas, A., Naveed, S., Makhmoor, A., Malik, A., Hassan, H., & Aedma, K. K. (2019) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-019-00459-9 · Cited by 11
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Ending discrimination against people with mental and substance use disorders: the evidence for stigma change: National Academies Press; 2016.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health
Thornicroft, G., Sunkel, C., Alikhon Aliev, A., Baker, S., Brohan, E., el Chammay, R., Davies, K., Demissie, M., Duncan, J., Fekadu, W., et al. (2022) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(22)01470-2 · Cited by 748
Gambling Disorder and Stigma: Opportunities for Treatment and Prevention
Quigley, L. (2022) · Current Addiction Reports · doi:10.1007/s40429-022-00437-4 · Cited by 67
Interventions to Reduce Mental Health Stigma in Young People
Crockett, M. A., Núñez, D., Martínez, P., Borghero, F., Campos, S., Langer, A. I., Madariaga, J. C., & Martínez, V. (2025) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.54730 · Cited by 79
Motta, M., Liu, Y., & YARNELL, A. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-56578-1 · Cited by 63
Anti‐stigma initiatives for mental health professionals—A systematic literature review
Sreeram, A., Cross, W. M., & Townsin, L. (2022) · Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/jpm.12840 · Cited by 85
Metadata
- Authors
- Waqas, A., Malik, S., Fida, A., Abbas, N., Mian, N., Miryala, S., Amray, A. N., Shah, Z., & Naveed, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Hartford Hospital (US)
- King Edward Medical University (PK)
- FMH College of Medicine & Dentistry (PK)
- Dow University of Health Sciences (PK)
- Weiss Memorial Hospital (US)
- University of Kansas Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Waqas, Ahmed
- Venue
- Psychiatric Quarterly
- Published
- 2020-05-05
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 887-903
- ISSN
- 0033-2720 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6709
- PMC
- PMC7395002
- OpenAlex
- W3022881768
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Psychiatric Quarterly (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Liverpool
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › School Health and Nursing Education
- Keywords
- mental health stigma, stigma reduction interventions, students, mental health literacy, attitudes toward mental illness, contact-based interventions, role play, case scenarios, public stigma, self-stigma, social distance, depression detection
- MeSH terms
- Psychosocial Intervention, Mental Disorders, Health Education, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Role Playing, Persons with Psychiatric Disorders, Social Stigma
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
