Large-Scale Public Stigma Reduction Toward Individuals With Psychosis Using Brief Videos: A Secondary Data Analysis

Stigma toward individuals living with psychosis impacts treatment seeking and outcomes among youth. Brief social contact-based video interventions (<3 min long) can be disseminated via social media to reduce stigma. However, it is unclear how these videos impact distinct components of stigma (negative attitudes and behavioral intentions) and whether matching on demographic characteristics (race and gender) between protagonist and viewer bolsters effects.

We explored these questions in a secondary data analysis of 6 prior randomized controlled trials varying in presenter characteristics (race, gender, lived experience, actor) and video modality (selfie vs traditional style) in 6946 United States youth, ages 18-30, recruited via Prolific. It was hypothesized that our results would replicate previous findings on efficacy of brief videos on reducing stigma and that there would be a significant impact on cognitive and behavioral subdomains and a matching effect for gender and race.

Results replicated prior findings that video interventions were effective at reducing stigma across 5 domains (social distance, stereotyping, separateness, social restriction, and perceived recovery) and contributed to an overall shift in stigmatizing attitudes and behavioral intentions at post-intervention and 30-day follow-up. Videos that matched viewers' gender or race had significantly stronger stigma-reduction effects on certain domains, though effect sizes were small.

Results highlight that brief, easy-to-disseminate videos can effectively change stigmatizing perceptions and behavioral intentions toward individuals with psychosis. Future studies should explore how behavioral intentions translate to action and the impact of matching between presenters and participants.