The Double Stigma of Mental Illness Associated with Substance Use: Stereotypes, Causal Attributions and Emotional Reactions
Date
2017
Authors
Chittleborough, Olivia Kate
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Thesis
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Abstract
Despite the large body of research exploring mental illness stigma, few studies have examined the
stigmatisation of comorbid mental and substance use disorders. The present study aims to expand
this research by evaluating differences in stereotypes, causal attributions and emotions elicited by
an individual with a mental illness and substance use issue compared to a mental illness alone.
Participants (N = 121) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (drug/no drug). Each
condition contained a vignette describing a man experiencing psychotic symptoms, the drug
condition also revealed he had been using illicit drugs for some time. Measures used to evaluate
participant perceptions of the subject in the vignette included stereotype content (warmth,
competence), emotional reactions (pity, anger, fear) and causal attributions (dispositional,
biological, environmental). Mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) found significant
interactions between condition (drug/no drug) and causal attributions, F(1.75, 206.18)=19.60,
p< .000, hp
2=.142 and emotional reactions, F(2,236)=6.47, p=.002, hp
2=.052. A main effect of
condition (drug/no drug) showed statistically significant differences in stereotyping across the two
groups, F(1,118)=5.83, p=.017, hp 2 =.047. The comorbid substance abuse and psychotic disorder
was significantly more negatively perceived than the psychotic disorder alone, presenting
implications for future research and efforts to reduce stigma.
School/Discipline
School of Psychology
Dissertation Note
Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2017
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