The Use of the Internalized Stigma Psychometric Tool Among Mentally Ill Patients: Preliminary Results.

Abstract

Introduction Stigma is a phenomenon that has been evaluated according to endless numbers of attributes, health conditions and social groups. Research shows that mental illness is one of the most socially exclusive stigmata. Aukst Margetic underlines the importance of individual differences in personality as performing a key role in mediating between social and internalized stigma. Objectives To gain the existing state of the art on personality correlates and to verify the knowledge of the clinical variables on the phenomenon of internalized stigma among patients with severe mental illnesses. Aims To answer the question whether there are any differences in internalized stigmatization among patients with severe mental illnesses in relation to the personality traits and illness-related factors. Methods Two-stages, cross-sectional study design. Stage I, a pilot study to check the reliability of psychometric instrument measured the internalized stigma – Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale by Ritsher [Boyd]. Stage II,to examine the internalized stigma in relation to personality and clinical correlates. The study is conducted among people of both sexes between 18 and 65 years old with diagnosis of psychotic disorders (F20-29) and mood disorders (F30-39) according to ICD-10. Among used methods are: Personality Inventory NEO-FFI, Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R), a Polish version of questionnaire of Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI). Results Data on relation between personality traits, clinical factors and internalized stigma. Conclusions In the future, the obtained results may contribute to the clinical and therapeutic fields, assuming that internalized stigma is strongly linked with the process of recovery.