Work

Spontaneous labelling and stigma associated with clinical characteristics of peers ‘at‐risk’ for psychosis

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: AIM: The public health benefits of utilizing an 'at-risk for psychosis' designation are tempered by concerns about stigma. It is therefore of interest to examine whether symptoms associated with this designation might spontaneously induce labels associated with a psychotic disorder, other non-psychotic disorders or non-psychiatric labels. This pilot study explored the labels associated with characteristics of 'high risk for psychosis' and the corresponding stigma level. METHODS: A vignette describing an identical character, followed by a series of questions about stigmatizing attitudes towards the vignette character, was administered in the present investigation. RESULTS: The results indicated that even though most young people (59%) did not spontaneously label the vignette character with psychotic-like diagnostic labels, the single most frequent label provided was 'paranoid/a'. When such labelling, that is, strongly tied to psychosis, occurred, respondents exhibited stronger stigmatizing attributions of fear compared to those indicating non-psychiatric labels (e.g. 'weird'). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the majority of respondents did not endorse diagnostic labels spontaneously, thus signaling that stigma in the majority of cases would not naturalistically be elicited. However, a segment of respondents evidenced stigma simply from behavioural changes manifested by individuals exhibiting signs of psychosis, independent of diagnosis. Implications for reducing any stigma associated with an 'at-risk for psychosis' designation are discussed.

Source: Early Intervention in Psychiatry

DOI: 10.1111/eip.12047

Authors: Deidre M. Anglin, Michelle I. Greenspoon, Quenesha Lighty, Cheryl M. Corcoran, Lawrence H. Yang

Institutions: The Graduate Center, CUNY, City College of New York, Antioch University Santa Barbara, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University

Language: English

Topic: Schizophrenia research and treatment

Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences