Correlates and predictors of perceived stigma and self‐stigma in Chinese patients with psychosis

Abstract

Aims In patients with psychosis, perceived stigma (i.e., beliefs about discriminative viewpoints held by the public) and self‐stigma (i.e., internalization of such perceived stereotypes) could have devastating consequences. Knowledge about their correlates bears importance for understanding individual differences in stigma experiences, and further, given the social nature of stigma, Asians may show more distinctive features than Westerners. Methods A total of 142 Chinese patients who originally enrolled into a randomized controlled trial during their first‐episode psychosis were followed up at 10 years. We explored potential demographics, clinical and psychosocial correlates of perceived stigma and self‐stigma. Results Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that both perceived‐ and self‐stigma were predicted by a more negative attitude to treatment, whereas differential factors including perceived recovery predicted perceived stigma, and quality of life and attention predicted self‐stigma. Conclusions These results can help identify individuals susceptible to experiencing perceived‐ or self‐stigma, highlighting the need to consider factors such as attitude towards treatment when designing anti‐stigma strategies.

Rate and correlates of self-stigma in adult patients with early psychosis

“…Of note, the majority of prior studies examining self-stigma in psychotic disorders focused on patients with chronic illness (5,(9)(10)(11). Relatively few studies have systematically investigated stigmatization in the early course of psychotic disorder (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and some of these studies in fact examined other forms of stigma rather than self-stigma in early psychosis patients, such as the disclosure form of stigma (16,19) and perceived public stigma (15,17,18).…”