Cited by 1,680Mental Health Treatment and AccessPsychology and Mental HealthSocial and Intergroup Psychology

Challenging the public stigma of mental illness: a meta-analysis of outcome studies

Corrigan, Patrick W., Morris, Scott B., Michaels, Patrick J., Rafacz, Jennifer D., Rüsch, Nicolas·2012·Psychiatric Services

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Public stigma and discrimination have pernicious effects on the lives of people with serious mental illnesses. Given a plethora of research on changing the stigma of mental illness, this article reports on a meta-analysis that examined the effects of antistigma approaches that included protest or social activism, education of the public, and contact with persons with mental illness. METHODS: The investigators heeded published guidelines for systematic literature reviews in health care. This comprehensive and systematic review included articles in languages other than English, dissertations, and population studies. The search included all articles from the inception of the databases until October 2010. Search terms fell into three categories: stigma, mental illness (such as schizophrenia and depression), and change program (including contact and education). The search yielded 72 articles and reports meeting the inclusion criteria of relevance to changing public stigma and sufficient data and statistics to complete analyses. Studies represented 38,364 research participants from 14 countries. Effect sizes were computed for all studies and for each treatment condition within studies. Comparisons between effect sizes were conducted with a weighted one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: Overall, both education and contact had positive effects on reducing stigma for adults and adolescents with a mental illness. However, contact was better than education at reducing stigma for adults. For adolescents, the opposite pattern was found: education was more effective. Overall, face-to-face contact was more effective than contact by video. CONCLUSIONS: Future research is needed to identify moderators of the effects of both education and contact.

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Crossref · 10.1176/appi.ps.201100529

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Authors
Corrigan, P. W., Morris, S. B., Michaels, P. J., Rafacz, J. D., & Rüsch, N.
Affiliations
Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
Venue
Psychiatric Services
Published
2012-10
Volume
63
Issue
10
Pages
963-973
ISSN
  • 0022-1597 (ISSN-L)
  • 1075-2730
  • 1557-9700
OpenAlex
W2105795344
Cited by
1,680
References
105
Citations by year
2026: 102 · 2025: 134 · 2024: 125 · 2023: 133 · 2022: 166 · 2021: 176 · 2020: 147 · 2019: 125 · 2018: 123 · 2017: 125 · 2016: 124 · 2015: 83 · 2014: 71 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 7
FWCI
9.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychiatric Services (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Keywords
public stigma, mental health stigma, social contact, public education, face-to-face contact, adolescents, adults, schizophrenia, depression, stigma reduction
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Health, Mental Disorders, Female, Health Education, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Social Change, Stereotyping, Mentally Ill Persons, Persons with Psychiatric Disorders, Young Adult, Social Stigma, Social Discrimination

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