How does diagnostic labelling affect social responses to people with mental illness? A systematic review of experimental studies using vignette-based designs

O’Connor, Clíodhna; Brassil, M.; O'Sullivan, Sadhbh; Seery, Christina; Nearchou, Finiki

doi:10.1080/09638237.2021.1922653

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…One contribution of this research is to highlight that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental illness beliefs may differ depending on the specific disorder in question. This aligns with emerging evidence that public attitudes to different psychiatric categories are sustained by unique and divergent networks of beliefs [38][39][40]. While highlighting the onset of symptoms during the pandemic affected lay beliefs about GAD, beliefs about MDD were not mutable to this experimental manipulation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Lay Beliefs about the Cause and Course of Mental Illness?

O’Connor

2021

IJERPH

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COVID-19 and its countermeasures have negatively impacted the mental health of populations worldwide. The current paper considers whether the rising incidence of psychiatric symptoms during the pandemic may affect lay beliefs about the cause and course of mental illness. Laypeople’s causal attributions and expectations regarding the trajectory of mental illness have important implications for societal stigma and therapeutic orientations. Two online experimental studies investigated whether reading about fictional cases of mental illness that were explicitly situated during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with reading about the same cases without any pandemic-related contextualisation, affected attributions and expectations about Generalised Anxiety Disorder (Study 1) and Major Depressive Disorder (Study 2). Study 1 (n = 137) results showed that highlighting the onset of anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic weakened attributions to biological causes and reduced the anticipated duration of symptoms. However, Study 2 (n = 129) revealed no effects of COVID-19 contextualisation on beliefs about the cause or course of depression. The research provides preliminary evidence that the increased incidence of mental illness during the pandemic may reshape public beliefs about certain mental illnesses. Given the importance of public understandings for the lived experience of mentally unwell persons in society, further evidence of the range and extent of the pandemic’s effects on lay beliefs is important to inform clinical, public health and stigma-reduction initiatives.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Lay Beliefs about the Cause and Course of Mental Illness?

O’Connor

2021

IJERPH

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“…Moreover, specific diagnoses could have highly personalized associations within participants' social networks, which also mediated responses to diagnostic shifts. While much previous research has demonstrated the diagnostic specificity of sociocultural representations of mental illness (17)(18)(19), this is the first study to demonstrate how this variability in meaning shapes the experiences of those whose diagnostic classifications change over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…A key factor differentiating this variability in responses is the specific diagnosis in question. Different diagnostic labels activate distinct associations and stereotypes, which color the experience of being so classified (17)(18)(19). For example, being told one's feelings of agitation result from Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may arouse divergent socioemotional responses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Does It Feel to Have One's Psychiatric Diagnosis Altered? Exploring Lived Experiences of Diagnostic Shifts in Adult Mental Healthcare

2022

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BackgroundThough the socio-emotional significance of psychiatric diagnoses and the frequency of transitions between diagnostic classifications are widely acknowledged, minimal research reveals how “diagnostic shifts” are subjectively experienced by psychiatric service-users.AimThis study investigated how adult service-users make sense of diagnostic shifts and their impacts on one's life.MethodsTwenty-seven people with self-reported experiences of diagnostic shifts opted into this qualitative study. Virtual narrative interviews invited participants to share their “diagnosis stories.” Interview transcripts were analyzed using narrative thematic analysis to identify common and divergent experiences across participants.ResultsDiverse experiences of diagnostic shifts were related: diagnostic shifts could both promote and undermine clinical trust, therapeutic engagement and self-understanding. The analysis suggested that shared and divergent experiences could be attributed to two dimensions of narratives: participants' Interpretations of Diagnostic Shifts and Diagnosis-Specific Factors. Regarding the former, analysis produced a typology of three possible interpretations of diagnostic shifts, which were linked with consistently different antecedents, experiences and consequences. The latter dimension captured how experiences of diagnostic shifts also hinged on the unique meanings ascribed to the specific diagnoses gained and lost, particularly in relation to their perceived severity, stigma, personal associations, and related communities.ConclusionsFindings revealed how diagnostic shifts can be experienced as both traumatic and life-enhancing, depending on their social and subjective context. Understanding the range and predictors of variable experiences of diagnostic shifts is vital for sensitive clinical practice and communication.

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“…The effects of diagnostic labeling and diagnostic disclosure in mental health conditions are person‐specific and have, therefore, commonly been studied anecdotally or using vignette‐based experiments (O'Connor, Brassil, O'Sullivan, Seery, & Nearchou, 2022). In ADHD, knowledge relating to stigma is predominantly based on respondents who experience stigma associated with their own or their relatives' ADHD (Mueller, Fuermaier, Koerts, & Tucha, 2012).…”

Section: Impact Of Living With Adhdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ADHD‐related social stigma appears to vary from case to case, and labeling can either exacerbate, ameliorate, or not affect stigma. However, the limited available research indicates more rather than less social stigma is associated with receiving a diagnosis of ADHD, when evaluated by teachers and student peers, whereas receiving a diagnosis of autism, a common co‐existing condition in ADHD, is associated with ameliorated stigma (O'Connor et al., 2022).…”

Section: Impact Of Living With Adhdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual Research Review: Perspectives on progress in ADHD science – from characterization to cause

Sonuga‐Barke

Becker

Bölte

et al. 2022

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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The science of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is motivated by a translational goal – the discovery and exploitation of knowledge about the nature of ADHD to the benefit of those individuals whose lives it affects. Over the past fifty years, scientific research has made enormous strides in characterizing the ADHD condition and in understanding its correlates and causes. However, the translation of these scientific insights into clinical benefits has been limited. In this review, we provide a selective and focused survey of the scientific field of ADHD, providing our personal perspectives on what constitutes the scientific consensus, important new leads to be highlighted, and the key outstanding questions to be addressed going forward. We cover two broad domains – clinical characterization and, risk factors, causal processes and neuro‐biological pathways. Part one focuses on the developmental course of ADHD, co‐occurring characteristics and conditions, and the functional impact of living with ADHD – including impairment, quality of life, and stigma. In part two, we explore genetic and environmental influences and putative mediating brain processes. In the final section, we reflect on the future of the ADHD construct in the light of cross‐cutting scientific themes and recent conceptual reformulations that cast ADHD traits as part of a broader spectrum of neurodivergence.

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How does diagnostic labelling affect social responses to people with mental illness? A systematic review of experimental studies using vignette-based designs

Cited by 18 publications

References 89 publications

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Lay Beliefs about the Cause and Course of Mental Illness?

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Lay Beliefs about the Cause and Course of Mental Illness?

How Does It Feel to Have One's Psychiatric Diagnosis Altered? Exploring Lived Experiences of Diagnostic Shifts in Adult Mental Healthcare

Annual Research Review: Perspectives on progress in ADHD science – from characterization to cause

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