Enhancing the effects of public education on stigma reduction and advocacy promotion through interconnected elements:...

Stigma has severely affected various aspects of life for people with schizophrenia. Public education about the causes and solutions to the symptoms of schizophrenia has been proposed as an effective way to achieve stigma reduction and promote advocacy for this group. While a sense of separation has been considered an important factor that fuels the stigmatization process, such approaches do not explicitly highlight the connection between people with schizophrenia and the socially dominant group, which could limit their effectiveness in reducing stigma. The present experimental study aimed to investigate the incremental value of incorporating interconnected elements into the diverse-explanation-solution model (biomedical, psychosocial, and sociocultural explanations and solutions to symptoms of schizophrenia), which is commonly used in public educational antistigma campaigns, for reducing stigma and promoting advocacy for people with schizophrenia. A total of 480 participants (63.5% women; M_age = 31.25 years, SD = 8.3) recruited online provided valid responses at baseline and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) diverse (control condition), (b) interconnected-explanation, (c) interconnected-solution, and (d) dual-interconnected. Participants completed preexperiment, postexperiment, and 1-week follow-up assessments and viewed a 4-min video manipulating the type of explanations and solutions for schizophrenia. The results showed that, compared to the control condition, the interconnected-solution condition and dual-interconnected condition had a greater effect on various outcomes related to stigma and advocacy. It was also observed that individual and group efficacy were potential mediators underlying these effects. This study highlights the value of adding interconnected elements to public education about the causes and solutions to the symptoms of schizophrenia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).