Impact of acceptance and commitment therapy versus education on stigma toward people with psychological disorders

Abstract

Masuda, Akihiko; Hayes, S. C.; Fletcher, Lindsay B.; Seignourel, P. J.; Bunting, K.; Herbst, S. A.; Twohig, M. P.; and Lillis, J., "The impact of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy versus education on stigma toward people with psychological disorders" (2007).

The Relation between Psychological Flexibility and Mental Health Stigma in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Preliminary Process Investigation

“…The CAMI has four subscales: (a) Authoritarianism, (b) Benevolence, (c) Social Restrictiveness, and (d) Community Approach. Consistent with previous research (Hayes et al, 2004;Masuda et al, 2007), to reach an overall attitude score (i.e., stigma toward people with psychological disorders), Benevolence and Community Approach were subtracted from Authoritarianism and Social Restrictiveness. Thus, possible scores ranged from -80 to 80, with higher scores indicating more negative attitudes toward people with psychological disorders.…”

“…However, the study was able to investigate whether and how changes in psychological flexibility from pre-to follow-up would predict changes of mental health stigma over the same period. Based on our previous findings (Masuda et al, 2007;Masuda et al, in press), it was hypothesized that increased psychological flexibility would be related to reduced mental health stigma.…”

“…In regard to mental health stigma, one study has examined the effects of a 150-minute ACT group workshop by comparing it to an education condition (Masuda et al, 2007). The study showed that, whereas both interventions were successful in reducing mental health stigma in those reporting high psychological flexibility, only the ACT group significantly reduced stigma in those reporting lower levels of psychological flexibility.…”

“…The present study investigated the nature of these relationships using pilot data of an ACT stigma reduction project (Masuda et al, 2007). The study was a single-group quasi-experimental design (i.e., pre-, post-, and one-month follow-up) examining the potential utility of ACT for reducing mental health stigma.…”

The Role of Psychological Flexibility in Mental Health Stigma and Psychological Distress for the Stigmatizer

“…The empirical literature examining the relation between psychological flexibility and stigmatization is in its infancy Lillis & Hayes, 2007), but suggests that the two constructs are related. One recent study compared two brief stigma reduction interventions: an information-based psychoeducational workshop providing facts about psychological disorders and a workshop based on promoting acceptance, perspective-taking, and empathy (Masuda et al, 2007). At pre-intervention, stigmatizing beliefs seemed to be negatively associated with psychological flexibility.…”