title: Impact of the mass media OBERTAMENT campaign on the levels of stigma among the population of Catalonia, Spain.
abstract: Reducing public stigma could improve patients' access to care, recovery and social integration. The aim of the study was to evaluate a mass media intervention, which aimed to reduce the mental health, related stigma among the general population in Catalonia (Spain). We conducted a cross-sectional population-based survey of a representative sample of the Catalan non-institutionalized adult population (n=1019). We assessed campaign awareness, attitudes to people with mental illness (CAMI) and intended behaviour (RIBS). To evaluate the association between campaign awareness and stigma, multivariable regression models were used. Over 20% of respondents recognized the campaign when prompted, and 11% when unprompted. Campaign aware individuals had better attitudes on the benevolence subscale of the CAMI than unaware individuals (P=0.009). No significant differences in authoritarianism and support for community mental health care attitudes subscales were observed. The campaign aware group had better intended behaviour than the unaware group (P<0.01). The OBERTAMENT anti-stigma campaign had a positive impact to improve the attitudes and intended behaviour towards people with mental illness of the Catalan population. The impact on stigma was limited to attitudes related to benevolence. A wider range of anti-stigma messages could produce a stronger impact on attitudes and intended behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Department of Teaching and Research, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Spanish Network for Preventive Activities and Health Promotion in Primary Care (redIAPP), Spain. Electronic address: mrubio@pssjd.org.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubio-Valera
authors.affiliation: Department of Teaching and Research, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Spanish Network for Preventive Activities and Health Promotion in Primary Care (redIAPP), Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Policy Unit, The Brain and Mind Research Institute; and Centre for Disability Research and Policy. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evans-Lacko
authors.affiliation: Department of Teaching and Research, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Luciano
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thornicroft
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aznar-Lou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Acute Psychiatric Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serrano-Blanco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D057545:Social Stigma; D013030:Spain
keywords: Mass media; Mental disorders; Social discrimination; Social stigma