title: Reducing stigma in high school youth.
abstract: We evaluated 21 contact-based education interventions in 5047 Canadian high school students and identified student characteristics associated with success.
  
  
  
  We used a one-group pretest/posttest design with standardized instruments to measure changes in behavioural intent. Variability across interventions was assessed using meta-analysis, and a mixed-effects logistic regression was used to identify student characteristics.
  
  
  
  Interventions were heterogeneous (I(2)  = 62.4%) but generally successful. The odds of getting an A grade was 2.57 times greater on the posttest than the pretest (95% CI = 2.18, 3.03). Males were less likely to achieve a passing score overall; however, males who self-disclosed a mental illness were more likely to pass. Three percent of students experienced a large drop in social acceptance following the intervention. These were more likely to be male [OR = 1.5 (95% CI = 1.0, 2.1)].
  
  
  
  Contact-based education is a promising practice for reducing stigma in high school students, although the field would benefit from fidelity criteria to reduce variation across interventions. Males and females react differently to antistigma programming; particularly those with self-reported mental illnesses and a small proportion may become more intolerant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Abramsky Hall, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koller
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Abramsky Hall, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stuart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D057545:Social Stigma; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Adolescent; prejudice; programme effectiveness; social distance; social stigma; stereotyping