Personality Factors Crucial in Internalized Stigma Understanding in Psychiatry.

Dorota Szcześniak,Agnieszka Kobyłko,Maciej Karczewski,Agnieszka Cyran,Marta Lenart,Joanna Rymaszewska,Piotr Musiał

doi:10.3390/healthcare9040456

Abstract

Objective: The main purpose of this research was to establish the relationship between personality traits and internalized stigma in individuals living with severe mental illness. Additionally, the study aimed to identify individual differences that could be used to develop the theoretical socio-cognitive-behavioral equation model of internalized stigma. Methods: A total of 114 patients with diagnosis of nonorganic psychotic disorder or uni- or bipolar affective disorder took part in this study. The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised (EPQ-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were administrated among all participants. Results: Patients presenting higher levels of neuroticism scored higher on the ISMI scale. Otherwise, those with higher levels of extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness had lower ISMI scores. With the use of multivariate linear regression, neuroticism, openness to experience and conscientiousness showed the strongest associations with internalized stigma. Conclusions: Intrapersonal factors such as personality traits might explain individual differences in responses to the stigmatization process. Moreover, sociodemographic conditions such as the place of residence and level of education can play a mediating role in reducing the level of internalized stigma. Adequate psychosocial interventions should consider demographics and personality traits when engaging patients with mental illnesses in activities aimed at understanding and accepting the disorders.

Highlights

Stigma has been researched in the context of many attributes, health conditions and social groups [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Our previous study found that severe mental illnesses such as psychosis and affective disorders are associated with mild levels of internalized stigma, as confirmed by studies from other countries
Forty-five percent of the research group were diagnosed with psychotic disorder, 39% were diagnosed with depressive disorder and 16% were diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder

Summary

Introduction

Stigma has been researched in the context of many attributes, health conditions and social groups [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. According to Switaj, these people are perceived as different, worse or even “not fully human”, which results in a multistage process of exclusion [8] While this problem is not a new phenomenon, community psychiatry has only recently taken steps to emphasize the reintegration of this group into society. Duration of the disease and type of diagnosis turned out to be related to the level of internalized stigma among mental health patients [12] These factors are insufficient for a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of stigma. Personality differences are defined by “habitual patterns of thought, emotion and behavior, which are relatively stable over time and differ across individuals” [14] These individual differences may explain why some people with mental illness are more prone to stigma, while others are able to develop adaptive coping strategies

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion