Disentangling the relationships between interpersonal competence, social network, social support and the experience of being stigmatized among people with psychotic disorders: A path modeling approach

Deficits in social skills are common among people with psychosis and may contribute to the severity of the stigmatization they experience. The aim of the present research was to shed light on the mechanisms through which lack of interpersonal competence may lead to an increased exposure to stigma by investigating the mediating effects of social network and social support.

A sample of 207 patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders was recruited for the study. The pattern of relationships between interpersonal competence, social network, social support and experienced stigma was analyzed using path modeling.

The level of interpersonal competence was found to be directly negatively related to the intensity of experienced stigma (β = -0.20, SE = 0.08; P < 0.05) and directly positively related to the scope of social network (β = 0.36, SE = 0.08, P < 0.01) and social support (β = 0.36, SE = 0.08, P < 0.01). The analysis of mediation pathways between interpersonal competence and stigma experiences revealed significant indirect effect through social support (β_IND = -0.08, 95% CI: -0.16 to -0.02) and sequential effect through social network and social support (β_IND = -0.03, 95% CI: -0.06 to -0.01). The indirect pathway from interpersonal competence to stigma via social network alone turned out to be non-significant.

The findings indicate that poor interpersonal competence may increase the extent of the stigma experienced by people with psychotic illness both directly and indirectly, with social support being the key mediator. Since interpersonal competence, social network and social support are potentially modifiable factors, they should be considered as possible targets of anti-stigma interventions.