Implicit self-stigma in people with mental illness.
People with mental illness often internalize negative stereotypes, resulting in self-stigma and low self-esteem ("People with mental illness are bad and therefore I am bad, too"). Despite strong evidence for self-stigma's negative impact as assessed by self-report measures, it is unclear whether self-stigma operates in an automatic, implicit manner, potentially outside conscious awareness and control. We therefore assessed (i) negative implicit attitudes toward mental illness and (ii) low implicit self-esteem using 2 Brief Implicit Association Tests in 85 people with mental illness. Implicit self-stigma was operationalized as the product of both implicit measures. Explicit self-stigma and quality of life were assessed by self-report. Greater implicit and explicit self-stigma independently predicted lower quality of life after controlling for depressive symptoms, diagnosis, and demographic variables. Our results suggest that implicit self-stigma is a measurable construct and is associated with negative outcomes. Attempts to reduce self-stigma should take implicit processes into account.
Rüsch
Nicolas
N
Joint Research Programs in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA. nicolas.ruesch@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Corrigan
Patrick W
PW
Todd
Andrew R
AR
Bodenhausen
Galen V
GV
D001294:Attitude to Health; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires