title: The power to resist: the relationship between power, stigma, and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
abstract: Stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness can be a daily struggle for people with schizophrenia. While investigations into the impact of internalizing stigma on negative symptoms have yielded mixed results, resistance to stigmatizing beliefs has received little attention. In this study, we examined the linkage between internalized stigma, stigma resistance, negative symptoms, and social power, or perceived ability to influence others during social interactions among people with schizophrenia. Further, we sought to determine whether resistance to stigma would be bolstered by social power, with greater power in relationships with other possibly buffering against motivation/pleasure negative symptoms. Fifty-one people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder completed measures of social power, internalized stigma, and stigma resistance. Negative symptoms were assessed using the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS). Greater social power was associated with less internalized stigma and negative symptoms as well as more stigma resistance. Further, the relationship between social power and negative symptoms was partially mediated by stigma resistance. These findings provide evidence for the role of stigma resistance as a viable target for psychosocial interventions aimed at improving motivation and social power in people with schizophrenia.
authors: Department of Psychology, 2205 Tolman Hall University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1690, USA. Electronic address: t.campellone@gmail.com.
authors: Timothy R
authors: TR
authors: Campellone
authors: Department of Psychology, 2205 Tolman Hall University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1690, USA.
authors: Janelle M
authors: JM
authors: Caponigro
authors: Department of Psychology, 2205 Tolman Hall University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1690, USA.
authors: Ann M
authors: AM
authors: Kring
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D057181:Pleasure; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: Internalized stigma; Motivation/pleasure; Stigma resistance