Change in newspaper coverage of schizophrenia in Japan over 20-year period

Abstract

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oIn Japan, schizophrenia was renamed in 2002 to reduce the stigma that people with schizophrenia are dangerous. However there has been little research on the potential anti-stigma effect of renaming. The present study aimed to examine whether portrayals of schizophrenia in newspapers as dangerous have been varied across renaming of the disease. To achieve this goal, newspaper articles containing the previous and new Japanese names for schizophrenia, published in the decades before and after the renaming, were identified through the database of the three largest Japanese national broadsheets. Identified articles were divided into two categories: a negative category, including a subcategory "danger"; and a positive category. Articles containing bipolar disorder were adopted as a control. The ratio of the number of articles on schizophrenia and danger to that of bipolar disorder was analysed as a variable of interest. The trend of this ratio was investigated to examine whether portrayals of schizophrenia changed after renaming. The search identified 4677 articles on schizophrenia, 53.0% of which were categorised as negative and 38.9% as danger. The search identified 525 articles on bipolar disorder, 24.6% of which were categorised as negative and 11.2% as danger. There was an increase of the ratio before schizophrenia was renamed (r = 0.54, p = 0.104), and a significant decrease after renaming (r = − 0.69, p = 0.028). Fisher's r-to-z transformation demonstrated a significant change in the trend of the ratio across renaming (Z = 2.72, p = 0.007). Renaming schizophrenia might be associated with mitigation in potentially stigmatised depiction of schizophrenia associated with violence in newspaper reports.

Newspaper portrayal of mental illness in England, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Japan = Representación de las enfermedades mentales en periódicos de Inglaterra, Canadá, Portugal, España y Japón

“…Countries were chosen for the reasons stated in the introduction section after the first search, when articles covering newspapers in different countries were subjected to a preliminary screening. Only articles referring to mental health in general were chosen, with the exception of Aoki et al (2016) which focus specifically on schizophrenia. This article was chosen due to the significant relevance the change in the Japanese word for Schizophrenia could have had on reducing the stigma.…”

“…Positively, there was also a significant rise in the proportion of articles about the awareness and understanding of mental health concerns during this period. A more specific study concerning only media coverage of schizophrenia from 1992 to 2012 showed that there was a decrease in the ratio of articles about schizophrenia and danger related to that of bipolar disorder (Aoki et al, 2016). This decrease coincides with the renaming of the term schizophrenia for a less stigmatising term in some Asian countries (e.g., Japan, Honk Kong, Taiwan, South Korea) in the early 2000s.…”

How the use of the term "schizo*" has changed in an Italian newspaper from 2001 to 2015: Findings from a descriptive analysis

“…Among different national media, newspapers have a special role because they can be considered an index of wider public opinion (Aoki et al, 2016) and a privileged source of information on mental health (Whitley and Wang, 2016). In a recent retrospective analysis (2016), Aoki and colleagues showed that 14-49% of articles on mental disorders published in newspapers highlight the association between mental disorders and dangerousness.…”

“…Schizophrenia is the most frequent mental disorder reported in newspapers (Aoki et al, 2016;Carpiniello et al, 2007;Goulden et al, 2011;Nawková et al, 2012Nawková et al, , 2012 and it still represents the most stigmatized disorder for patients and their family members (Corrigan and Watson, 2002). Therefore, the need to challenge stigma associated with schizophrenia has become an ethical and public health priority.…”

“…A recent attempt to reduce stigmatization attached to schizophrenia has included the change of the name of the disorder, with several authors being in favour of renaming it (Ellison et al, 2015;Lasalvia et al, 2015). This change has already been implemented in some Asian countries (Lee et al, 2013;Chan et al, 2017), with the aim to reduce the inappropriate use of the word "schizophrenia" by journalists and the media (Aoki et al, 2016;Vahabzadeh et al, 2011).…”