Effects of a Cognitive Schema Account on the Stigma of Schizophrenia: A Study in a French University Student Sample

Among people with psychiatric disorders, those with schizophrenia are subject to high levels of stigmatization. Research is necessary to identify new strategies that may help reduce the stigma of schizophrenia. Educational strategies using cognitive accounts, particularly early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), have shown promising results in the context of depression, but they have not been evaluated in the context of schizophrenia. The present study compared the effect on the stigma of three different educational strategies, based on cognitive distortions, biogenetics, and EMSs. A total of 378 students were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups. Three experimental groups were presented with a vignette that introduced 1 of 3 different etiological accounts of schizophrenia (cognitive distortions, EMSs, or biogenetics). The fourth group was presented with a text unrelated to schizophrenia. The participants completed questionnaires that measured their attitudes, empathic concern, and social distance toward people with schizophrenia, before and after reading the text. The intervention using the EMS etiology account for schizophrenia was the only one that led to a significant decrease in stigma. The latter effect was driven mainly by an increase in the level of empathic concern toward people with schizophrenia. Given that similar results have been observed for depression and that the role of EMSs in many psychiatric disorders has been demonstrated, studying the effects of EMS explanations for other stigmatized disorders may be promising for reducing the stigma of psychiatric disorders.