Author: Clement, S.; Schauman, O.; Graham, T.; Maggioni, F.; Evans-Lacko, S.; Bezborodovs, N.; Morgan, C.; Rusch, N.; Brown, J.S.L.; Thornicroft, G.
Description: BACKGROUND: Individuals often avoid or delay seeking professional help for mental health problems. Stigma may be a key deterrent to help-seeking but this has not been reviewed systematically. Our systematic review addressed the overarching question: What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking for mental health problems? Subquestions were: (a) What is the size and direction of any association between stigma and help-seeking? (b) To what extent is stigma identified as a barrier to help-seeking? (c) What processes underlie the relationship between stigma and help-seeking? (d) Are there population groups for which stigma disproportionately deters help-seeking?
METHOD: Five electronic databases were searched from 1980 to 2011 and references of reviews checked. A meta-synthesis of quantitative and qualitative studies, comprising three parallel narrative syntheses and subgroup analyses, was conducted.
RESULTS: The review identified 144 studies with 90,189 participants meeting inclusion criteria. The median association between stigma and help-seeking was d = – 0.27, with internalized and treatment stigma being most often associated with reduced help-seeking. Stigma was the fourth highest ranked barrier to help-seeking, with disclosure concerns the most commonly reported stigma barrier. A detailed conceptual model was derived that describes the processes contributing to, and counteracting, the deterrent effect of stigma on help-seeking. Ethnic minorities, youth, men and those in military and health professions were disproportionately deterred by stigma.
CONCLUSIONS: Stigma has a small- to moderate-sized negative effect on help-seeking. Review findings can be used to help inform the design of interventions to increase help-seeking.
Subject Headings: Attitude of Health Personnel; Female; Health Personnel/psychology; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders/psychology; Mental Health; Mental Health Services; Military Personnel/psychology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology; Primary Health Care; Qualitative Research; Social Stigma
Keywords: What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies
Publication year: 2015
Journal or book title: Psychological Medicine
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Pages: 11-27
Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=17013109713747561379&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en
Type: Journal Article
Serial number: 2794