Social stigma towards people with mental disorders in Spanish adolescents: a cross-sectional study
Resumen
Introduction: Stigma and mental health literacy play an important role in individuals' trajectories with mental disorders who are often stigmatised and suffer adverse consequences such as social isolation and limited life chances. Stigma towards people with mental disorders can occur in adults but also in adolescents.
Objective: We aimed to determine the social stigma towards people with mental disorders in a group of adolescents and to establish any possible relationships with personal variables.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study. A total of 144 adolescents were recruited from a secondary school in Spain by the convenience sampling method and completed a demographic questionnaire and the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale.
Results: Female adolescents had fewer stigmatising attitudes (p= 0.003). Females and Higher academic year students scored less in the Authoritarianism subscale (p< 0.001 and p= 0.001, respectively). Differences in scores of the Benevolence subscale were found depending on the academic level of the mother (p= 0.013).
Discussion: Gender, age and academic year are factors related to social stigma in the adolescent population. Mothers’ academic level is related.
Implications to clinical practice: Our results can contribute in focusing anti-stigma interventions in those adolescents with more stigma levels.
Introducción: El estigma y la alfabetización en salud mental juegan un papel importante en las trayectorias de los individuos con trastornos mentales, que a menudo son estigmatizados y sufren consecuencias adversas como el aislamiento social y la limitación de sus oportunidades vitales. El estigma hacia las personas con trastornos mentales puede darse en personas adultas pero también en adolescentes.
Objetivo: Nos propusimos determinar el estigma social hacia las personas con trastornos mentales en un grupo de adolescentes y establecer las posibles relaciones con variables personales.
Métodos: Realizamos un estudio transversal. Un total de 144 adolescentes fueron reclutados en un centro de enseñanza secundaria de España por el método de muestreo de conveniencia y completaron un cuestionario demográfico y la escala denominada Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill.
Resultados: Las adolescentes tenían menos actitudes estigmatizantes (p = 0,003). Las adolescentes y los estudiantes de cursos académicos superiores puntuaron menos en la subescala de Autoritarismo (p < 0,001 y p = 0,001, respectivamente). Se encontraron diferencias en las puntuaciones de la subescala de Benevolencia en función del nivel académico de la madre (p= 0,013).
Discusión: El género, la edad y el curso académico son factores relacionados con el estigma social en la población adolescente, así como el nivel académico de las madres.
Implicaciones para la práctica clínica: Nuestros resultados pueden contribuir a focalizar las intervenciones antiestigma en aquellos adolescentes con más niveles de estigma.
Citas
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