Impact of a peer delivered psycho-educational video on self-stigma

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An experimental study to investigate the impact of a psycho-educational video delivered either by a peer or a professional on self-stigmatising attitudes in first episode psychosis.

• IRAS ID

  171905

• Contact name

  Cate Anderson

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Bath

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 2 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Psychosis is a severe and enduring mental health problem. The experience of developing psychosis can be further complicated by the impact of the stigma surrounding the diagnosis. People with psychosis are often subject to negative stereotypes such as being dangerous, incompetent or unable to recover. Internalising these stereotypes (self-stigma) can damage an individual’s self identity and belief in their own abilities, which can lead to poorer recovery outcomes such as: poorer engagement with health services; lower quality of life and difficulties pursuing employment.

  Conversely, peer support has been shown to impact positively on recovery and theory suggests that this may be achieved through challenging stigmatising attitudes and instilling hope. A peer is someone who has personal experience of mental health difficulties and is at a later stage in their recovery process. Whilst there is evidence suggesting peer support is effective, how it has a positive effect is less well known. The aim of this study is to further investigate one potential mechanism underpinning peer support, that is the impact of peers on challenging self-stigmatising attitudes in others.

  This study will involve recruiting 70 people with psychosis from Early Intervention Services (EIS). Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups in which they will complete measures of self-stigma before and after watching a 15 minute psycho-educational video. Both videos will be identical in content but one group will watch a video delivered by a peer (group 1) and the other by a professional (group 2). The primary research question is to determine whether those in group 1 will experience a greater reduction in self-stigma than those in group 2 after watching the video. Findings will add to the evidence for peer support and will further explore one mechanism underpinning its effectiveness.

• REC name

  North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/NW/0517

• Date of REC Opinion

  30 Jun 2015

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion