How does immigration status affect the public stigma of behavioral health disorders?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look specifically at the intersection between behavioral health and immigration stigma. Design/methodology/approach In April of 2017, 256 US participants answered an online solicitation on MTurk to answer questions regarding perceptions of others. Participants were randomized to one of four vignettes which had conditions representing diagnosis (drug abuse vs brain cancer) and immigration status (naturalized citizen vs undocumented immigrant). Findings Drug abuse was significantly disdained and blamed more than brain cancer. A main effect was also found for immigration status for disdain. Interaction between diagnosis and immigration status was significant for blame, but undocumented status increased the blame of students with brain cancer, the opposite condition the authors expected. Originality/value The study validated previously tested hypotheses, namely, people with behavioral health challenges are highly stigmatized being disdained and blamed for their conditions more than people with brain cancer. The study tested intersectionality by examining the hypothesis that undocumented immigration status worsens stigmatizing views of people with behavioral health conditions.

Development and examination of the attribution questionnaire-substance use disorder (AQ-SUD) to measure public stigma towards adolescents experiencing substance use disorders

“…These checks are sufficient to gather quality data in MTurk research (Kees et al, 2017). Of 355 total participants, 304 (85.6%) provided correct answers to attention and quality checks, consistent with rates found in MTurk studies with similar vignette methodologies (Corrigan et al, 2018;Fischer et al, 2020). We performed analyses on data from these 304 participants; missing data was minimal and was deleted listwise in each analysis.…”

Searching for a Roommate: A Correspondence Audit Examining Racial/Ethnic and Immigrant Discrimination among Millennials

“…To date, few studies have directly examined discrimination based on perceived immigrant generational status or cultural assimilation using the audit method. Some prior work has signaled immigrant generational status ( Auer et al 2019 ; Corrigan, Hafeez, and Alkhouja 2018 ; Gell-Redman et al 2018 ; Maxwell and House 2018 ), often through explicit statements (e.g., “I was born in Algeria and came to France six years ago.”) and mostly in non-U.S. contexts. However, research suggests that immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities may go to great lengths to scrub their resumes of signals that may lead to discrimination ( Arai and Skogman Thoursie 2009 ; Bursell 2012 ; Kang et al 2016 ).…”

“…To date, few studies have directly examined discrimination based on perceived immigrant generational status or cultural assimilation using the audit method. Some prior work has signaled immigrant generational status (Auer et al 2019;Corrigan, Hafeez, and Alkhouja 2018;Gell-Redman et al 2018;Maxwell and House 2018), often through explicit statements (e.g., "I was born in Algeria and came to France six years ago.") and mostly in non-U.S. contexts.…”