Vicarious Stigma and Self-Stigma Experienced by Parents of Children with Mental Health and/or Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

The stigma of young children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental disorders is experienced by their parents in at least two ways: self-stigma and vicarious stigma. Secrecy may diminish stigma through impression management or strategic disclosure. The present study explores the relationship between vicarious stigma, self-stigma, secrecy coping, depression, and quality of life. Additionally, we examine the structure of a novel measure of vicarious stigma. Fifty parents of children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental disorders completed measures. Self-stigma and sadness due to vicarious stigma were significantly associated with greater depression and diminished quality of life. Higher secrecy coping was also associated with higher depression and lower quality of life, supporting the benefits of disclosure. This research meaningfully adds to our understanding of stigma in general, and as experienced by parents of children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental disorders. Implications for ongoing stigma change development and evaluation are discussed.

Longitudinal impact of parents’ discrimination experiences on children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms: A 2-year study of families of autistic children

“…Notably, these findings echo earlier work showing that parental negative mood observed by children may impair their own psychological wellbeing through the processes of contagion, imitation, and social referencing (Dagne & Snyder, 2011). Building upon previous research showing the interconnectedness between parents' and children's psychosocial experiences (Chan & Lam, 2017;Chan & Leung, 2021;Serchuk et al, 2021), our study showed that parental discrimination experiences might inflict parental depression, which could, in turn, heighten child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. To prevent the continued decline of the affected parents' and their children's mental and behavioral health, practitioners should consider using such evidence-based approaches as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to help the parents build stigma resilience, mitigate depressive symptoms, and improve emotional well-being (Chan & Lam, 2017;Mittal et al, 2012).…”

“…In support of a family systems perspective (Morgan, 1988) and prior research showing the interdependence of family subsystems (Chan et al, 2018), our model shows that parents’ discrimination experiences can adversely affect their children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms and that these adverse effects can be mediated by parental, parent–child, and inter-parental processes. The model suggests that negative social experience affecting one family subsystem may have negative effects on other subsystems, creating a succession of psychological adjustment problems among family members (Chan & Lam, 2017; Serchuk et al, 2021). Importantly, our model demonstrates the utility of a family-based approach to understanding the psychological detriments of discrimination experiences (Chan & Leung, 2021).…”

Loneliness in the presence of others: A mixed-method study of social networks of caregivers of patients with severe mental disorders

“…In other words, the role of personal support networks in the health and burden of the informal caregivers is complex and depends on the context, the characteristics of actors involved, and cultural and socioeconomical variables. For instance, family members of individuals with mental illness usually experience stigma and choose different coping mechanisms, such as strategic disclosure or secrecy (Corrigan & Miller, 2004; Östman & Kjellin, 2002; Serchuk et al, 2021).…”

Pre-/perinatal reduced optimality and neurodevelopment at 1 month and 3 years of age: Results from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS)

“…Third, the information regarding NDD diagnoses was based on the parental questionnaire and was not obtained from a medical database. The reported NDDs are most likely accurate and unlikely to be overreported, because the question regarding the child’s medical history specifically asked about “diagnoses by medical doctors.” However, one cannot exclude a possibility of underreporting due to the stigma and secrecy coping followed by any NDD diagnosis at this early stage of life [ 47 , 48 ]. Fourth, even though the pre-/perinatal periods are critical windows of neurodevelopment, not all the risk factors were incorporated in the analysis, including those during the first years of child life prior to the NDD diagnosis.…”