Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2023
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Abstract
While significant mental illness stigma disparities across race/ethnicity and gender exist, little is known about the efficacy of antistigma interventions in reducing these intersectional disparities. We examine the 2-year effects of school-based antistigma interventions on race/ethnic and gender intersectional stigma disparities among adolescents. An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sixth-grade sample (N = 302) self-completed surveys assessing stigma before randomly receiving an antistigma curriculum and/or contact intervention versus no intervention. Surveys were also self-completed 2-year postintervention. Stigma measures assessed general mental illness knowledge/attitudes, awareness/action, and social distance. Stigma toward peers with specific mental illnesses was examined using vignettes—two adolescent characters were described as having bipolar (Julia) and social anxiety (David) disorder. Race/ethnicity and gender were cross-classified into six intersectional groups (Latina/o, non-Latina/o Black, and non-Latina/o White girls and boys). Linear regressions adjusting for poverty and mental illness familiarity examined antistigma intervention effects across intersectional groups in sixth and eighth grade. The school-based antistigma intervention reduced intersectional stigma disparities over the 2-year study period. While non-Latino Black boys and Latino boys/girls reported greater disparities in stigma at baseline compared to non-Latina White girls, these disparities (14 total) were predominantly eliminated in the 2-year follow-up following receipt of the curriculum and contact components to just one remaining disparity postintervention among non-Latino Black boys. By identifying differences in how school-based antistigma interventions reduce mental illness stigma for unique race/ethnic and gender intersectional groups, we can better understand how to shape future antistigma interventions for diverse intersectional populations.
Recommended Citation
DuPont-Reyes, M. J., Villatoro, A. P., Datzman, J., Phelan, J. C., Painter, K., Barkin, K., & Link, B. G. (2023). Inequities gone or enduring? Evaluating the effects of a school-based antistigma intervention on race/ethnic and gender intersectional disparities in mental illness stigma. Stigma and Health, 8(3), 381–392. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000406
Comments
© 2022, American Psychological Association. This manuscript is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the final, authoritative version of the article. Please do not copy or cite without authors’ permission. The final version of record is available via its DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sah0000406