The Effect of Disclosure on Enacted Stigma Towards Individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often experience stigmatization. Disease disclosure has been associated with lower enacted stigma (i.e., engaging in discriminatory treatment), but minimal research has investigated IBD disclosure and enacted stigma experimentally. The present study's aim was to examine the effect of IBD disclosure on enacted stigma in a vignette paradigm. Participants included 244 adults from the United States who were randomized into one of three vignette groups: disclosure of IBD, non-disclosure of IBD, and control (no IBD). Vignettes in both IBD groups depicted a person with frequent bowel movements. Each vignette group contained a workplace, social, and recreational setting. Participants completed measures of enacted stigma, IBD knowledge, and IBD familiarity after reading the vignettes. Participants reported greater propensity to enact stigma in response to vignettes depicting non-disclosure of IBD than vignettes depicting disclosure of IBD or no IBD and for vignettes depicting the recreational setting compared to the workplace and social setting. Enacted stigma was negatively correlated with IBD knowledge. Disease disclosure may result in decreased stigma from others. Furthermore, educating the public about IBD may be beneficial for reducing enacted stigma towards individuals with IBD.