Genetic attributions and mental illness diagnosis: effects on perceptions of danger, social distance, and real helping decisions

Lee, Aaron A.; Laurent, Sean M.; Wykes, Thomas L.; Andren, Katherine A. Kitchen; Bourassa, Katelynn A.; McKibbin, Christine L.

doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0764-1

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…As far as specific aspects of schizophrenia are concerned, when considering causal beliefs, biogenetic and psychosocial causal attributions were expected to be the two extremes of a dimension, as found in previous studies [6,36,37]. Hypotheses were also made concerning relations between schizophrenia origins and possible treatments and of relations with a desire for social distance, perception of danger and general public avoidance of schizophrenic patients [3,[38][39][40]. Furthermore, a hypothesis was formulated that a latent structure, combining schizophrenia causal beliefs, social distance, perceived dangerousness and avoidance, should exist, also including possible schizophrenia treatments [4,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do education and experience with mental illness interact with causal beliefs, eligible treatments and stigmatising attitudes towards schizophrenia? A comparison between mental health professionals, psychology students, relatives and patients

2020

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Background The main purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of schizophrenia in different categories of persons (directly and/or indirectly) involved with it. Hypotheses were made concerning the definition of a multi-class structure where each class should identify a profile characteristic of each respondent’s specific role, (e.g.: mental health professional, relative, patient, and student) and specific indicators of schizophrenia (e.g.: causal beliefs, eligible treatments, social distance, perceived dangerousness and public avoidance). Methods This study involved 577 participants all in contact with schizophrenia with different roles. A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was applied to define a latent structure of schizophrenia aspects. Such structure was expected be affected by the interaction between respondents’ roles, as external variable, and schizophrenia indicators as manifest variables. Results A four-latent-class structure representing the four respondents’ roles was evidenced, further each class was characterized by schizophrenia indicators representing a profile for each role. Analogies and differences of views and preferences of the respondents’ roles concerning schizophrenia emerged clearly. Conclusions The four groups of people involved with schizophrenia with different roles demonstrated to interact significantly with specific indicators of schizophrenia shedding new lights on the understanding of schizophrenia in its complexity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do education and experience with mental illness interact with causal beliefs, eligible treatments and stigmatising attitudes towards schizophrenia? A comparison between mental health professionals, psychology students, relatives and patients

2020

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“…Contact with PWD, moreover, was found to be associated with reduced fear towards people with this disorder, and also with lower perception of dangerousness and unpredictability towards PWS (35). It has been also found that students' attribution of a 5 mental disorder to biogenetic factors is associated with greater social distance, mediated by the perception of dangerousness, in schizophrenia but not in depression; and that genetic attribution decreases the likelihood of helping PWS but has no effect on the likelihood of helping PWD (36).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Opinions of Italian Psychology Students About People Diagnosed with Depression and Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study

Magliano

Schioppa

Costanzo

et al. 2017

J. Psychosoc. Rehabil. Ment. Health

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“…In research on mental illness, genetic and biologic causal attributions have been found to be associated with “prognostic pessimism” among affected individuals . Similarly, some mental illnesses are viewed by the general public as more serious and less treatable when they are perceived to have a genetic cause . However, the impacts of genetic causal attributions may vary among different disorders.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 Similarly, some mental illnesses are viewed by the general public as more serious and less treatable when they are perceived to have a genetic cause. 8,9 However, the impacts of genetic causal attributions may vary among different disorders. A qualitative study of individuals with four conditions (deafness/hearing loss, breast cancer, sickle cell disease, and cystic fibrosis) found that genetic attributions had both negative and positive psychosocial impacts that were shaped by the context of the lived experience of each condition.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Depression and genetic causal attribution of epilepsy in multiplex epilepsy families

et al. 2016

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Summary Objectives Rapid advances in genetic research and increased use of genetic testing have increased the emphasis on genetic causes of epilepsy in patient encounters. Research in other disorders suggests that genetic causal attributions can influence patients’ psychological responses and coping strategies, but little is currently known about how epilepsy patients and their relatives will respond to genetic attributions of epilepsy. We investigated the possibility that depression, the most frequent psychiatric comorbidity in the epilepsies, might be related to the perception that epilepsy has a genetic cause among members of families containing multiple individuals with epilepsy. Methods A self-administered survey was completed by 417 individuals in 104 families averaging four individuals with epilepsy per family. Current depression was measured with the PHQ-9. Genetic causal attribution was assessed by three questions addressing: perceived likelihood of having an epilepsy-related mutation, perceived role of genetics in causing epilepsy in the family, and (in individuals with epilepsy) perceived influence of genetics in causing the individual’s epilepsy. Relatives without epilepsy were asked about their perceived chance of developing epilepsy in the future, compared with the average person. Results Prevalence of current depression was 14.8% in 182 individuals with epilepsy, 6.5% in 184 biological relatives without epilepsy, and 3.9% in 51 married-in individuals. Among individuals with epilepsy, depression was unrelated to genetic attribution. Among biological relatives without epilepsy, however, prevalence of depression increased with increasing perceived chance of having an epilepsy-related mutation (p=0.02). This association was not mediated by perceived future epilepsy risk among relatives without epilepsy. Significance Depression is associated with perceived likelihood of carrying an epilepsy-related mutation among individuals without epilepsy in families containing multiple affected individuals. This association should be considered when addressing mental health issues in such families.

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Genetic attributions and mental illness diagnosis: effects on perceptions of danger, social distance, and real helping decisions

Cited by 37 publications

References 38 publications

How do education and experience with mental illness interact with causal beliefs, eligible treatments and stigmatising attitudes towards schizophrenia? A comparison between mental health professionals, psychology students, relatives and patients

How do education and experience with mental illness interact with causal beliefs, eligible treatments and stigmatising attitudes towards schizophrenia? A comparison between mental health professionals, psychology students, relatives and patients

The Opinions of Italian Psychology Students About People Diagnosed with Depression and Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study

Depression and genetic causal attribution of epilepsy in multiplex epilepsy families

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