1. Altering the Landscape of Mental Illness Stigma on College Campuses.
- Author
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Brennan, Kathleen M. and Gorman, Kimberly S.
- Subjects
COLLEGE campuses ,MENTAL illness ,MENTAL illness treatment ,SOCIAL stigma ,STUDENT attitudes ,CLASSIFICATION of mental disorders ,CULTURAL prejudices - Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine mental illness stigma in the college campus context to better understand how public stigma dimensions, specifically, are represented and act as a deterrent to college student mental illness treatment-seeking on campus. We situate our findings in the broader context of stigma research to consider how public stigma dimensions related to mental illness in the college campus context compare to public stigma dimensions found in broader national and international contexts. Using an electronic survey focused on college student perceptions of mental illness and treatment, we collected data from a sample of full-time students enrolled in campus-based programs at a mid-sized regional university during the fall 2018 semester. Findings indicate that the students in our sample hold relatively low levels of endorsement for most commonly endorsed public stigma items related to mental illness but that the public stigma items they endorse reflect the global core of public prejudice associated with mental illness. Specifically, public stigma items reflecting perceptions of dangerousness and treatment carryover have the greatest levels of student endorsement. We also find some differences in endorsement of mental illness public stigma by diagnosis status. Additionally, we find marginal support for the role of exclusionary sentiments on campus mental health helpseeking. These findings suggest universities have potential to serve as an innovative context of change for altering the larger landscape of mental illness stigma through approaches taken for addressing stigma on campus, keeping in mind well-known forms of structural stigma that concurrently hinder student access to mental illness treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019