Addressing the Stigma Surrounding Serious Mental Illness in Adolescents: a Brief Intervention

Stigma in mental illness is a problem fueled by misrepresentation by the media and the assimilation of parent opinion, noted in those as young as six years old. Intervening in adolescence is critical given juxtaposition of increased judgement/fear of judgement and the onset of serious mental illness. This paper details the efforts of an intervention designed to specifically target the perception of dangerousness, social distancing, and use of stigmatizing language. A total of 124 high school freshman participated in the interactive presentation delivered over the course of a typical 40 min class period. An identical survey with a 5-point Likert scale was administered before and after to measure level of agreement with stigmatizing statements. Most participants reported prior exposure through the media (86.6%) and through conversations with family/friends (67.7%). Post intervention, improvement was seen in the perception of dangerousness (MD = 0.45, t = 4.435, p = <0.001), the need for social distancing (measure 1: MD = 0.148, t = 1.785, p = 0.039; measure 2: MD = 0.142, t = 1.773, p = 0.04), and understanding of the experience of those with serious mental illness (MD = 0.377, t = 3.378, p = <0.001). No significant difference was seen in terms of stigmatizing language use (MD = 0.114, t = 1.192, p = 0.118). This study supports the delivery of anti-stigma education to adolescents that avoids the biogenetic and contact approaches, embraces the continuum model of mental health, normalizes psychotic experiences, addresses dangerousness with data, identifies prominent figures with mental illness, and uses personalized statistics to demonstrate why this topic is of importance.