Do We Learn to Internalize Stigma from Our Parents? Comparison of Internalized Stigmatization in Adolescents Diagnosed with ADHD and Their Parents

Abstract

This study compared internalized stigmatization levels of adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with those of their parents. The study’s data were collected from 107 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and their parents between July 2020 and March 2021. The adolescents were followed up in the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic of a university hospital in western Turkey. The information forms for adolescents and parents, the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale—Adolescent Form (ISMI-AF) and the Parental Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (PISMI), were used to collect the data. There was no statistically significant difference between the total scores of internalized stigma and subscale mean scores of the adolescents and their parents (p > 0.05); only the subscale scores for stereotype endorsement were found to be significantly different (p < 0.05). PISMI scores affected ISMI-AF scores, which can be interpreted as parents’ perspectives and attitudes toward stigmatization affecting adolescents. For ADHD, whose frequency is increasing daily, intervention studies should be conducted to reduce adolescents’ and parents’ internalized stigma and to enhance the educational outcomes of adolescents.