The impact of causal beliefs on stigma.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of biogenetic vs. psychosocial explanations of psychosis on stigma in a clinical sample of people with experience of psychosis.
IRAS ID
196377
Contact name
Lucy Carter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Recently there has been increased attention paid to understanding how people perceive their mental health problems and how this can impact upon well-being and treatment outcome (Petrie, Broadbent, & Kydd, 2008). One aspect of an individual’s illness perception is what they believe to be the cause of their problem. Causal reasoning is a natural cognitive process used to make sense of many human experiences (Danks, 2009). Causal beliefs have been widely investigated in relation to the stigma associated with mental health problems (Angermeyer, Holzinger, & Matschinger, 2009). Negative attitudes toward people labelled with a psychiatric illness act as a significant obstacle to the recovery and provision of care for many people experiencing mental health issues (Sartorius, 2007). Furthermore, psychosis is one of the most stigmatized of these problems, being associated with attributes such as aggressiveness, a lack of self-control and unreasonable behaviour as well as an increased desire for social distance (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 1997; Jorm & Wright, 2008). Various national campaigns have attempted to tackle the stigma of mental health by associating psychological problems with physical rather than environmental factors, in the hope that this would reduce blame. However, evidence for the effectiveness of such campaigns in improving negative attitudes is largely absent (Schomerus et al., 2012). Based on these findings, it is possible that an individual’s own causal model could be an important factor in the development of internalised stigma in people experiencing psychosis, as well as influencing their opinions about others who have these experiences.
Therefore, as the evidence is currently uncertain, the aim of this study is to investigate the impact of different explanatory models (biological vs. psychosocial) on stigma in people who have experience of psychosis.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0025
Date of REC Opinion
9 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion