Three waves of data from a prospective longitudinal study in Sierra Leone were used to examine internalizing trajectories in 529 war-affected youth (ages 10–17 at baseline; 25% female). Latent class ...growth analyses identified 4 trajectories: A large majority of youth maintained lower levels of internalizing problems (41.4%) or significantly improved over time (47.6%) despite very limited access to care, but smaller proportions continued to report severe difficulties 6 years postwar (4.5%) or their symptoms worsened (6.4%). Continued internalizing problems were associated with loss of a caregiver, family abuse and neglect, and community stigma. Despite the comparative resilience of most war-affected youth in the face of extreme adversity, there remains a compelling need for interventions that address family- and community-level stressors.
Research about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its epidemiology and socio-economic impact on populations worldwide has gained attention. However, there is dearth of empirical knowledge in ...low- and middle-income settings about the pandemic's impact on survivors, particularly the tension of their everyday life arising from the experiences and consequences of stigma, discrimination and social exclusion, and how they cope with these behavioral adversities.
Realist qualitative approach drawing data from people clinically diagnosed positive of COVID-19, admitted into therapy in a designated treatment facility, and subsequently recovered and discharged for or without follow-up domiciliary care. In-depth interviews were conducted by maintaining a code book for identifying and documenting thematic categories in a progression leading to thematic saturation with 45 participants. Data were transcribed and coded deductively for broad themes at the start before systematically nesting emerging themes into the broad ones with the aid of NVivo 12 software.
Everyday lived experiences of the participants were disrupted with acts of indirect stigmatization (against relatives and family members), direct stigmatization (labeling, prejudices and stereotyping), barriers to realizing full social life and discriminatory behaviors across socio-ecological structures (workplace, community, family, and social institutions). These behavioral adversities were associated with self-reported poor health, anxiety and psychological disorders, and frustrations among others. Consequently, supplicatory prayers, societal and organizational withdrawal, aggressive behaviors, supportive counseling, and self-assertive behaviors were adopted to cope and modify the adverse behaviors driven by misinformation and fearful perceptions of the COVID-19 and its contagious proportions.
In the face of the analysis, social campaigns and dissemination of toolkits that can trigger behavior change and responsible behaviors toward COVID-19 survivors are proposed to be implemented by health stakeholders, policy and decision makers in partnership with social influencers, the media, and telecoms.
Our paper provides an overview of current stigma discourse, the origins and nature of the stigma associated with mental illnesses, stigmatization by health providers, and approaches to stigma ...reduction. This is a narrative review focusing on seminal works from the social and psychological literature, with selected qualitative and quantitative studies and international policy documents to highlight key points. Stigma discourse has increasingly moved toward a human rights model that views stigma as a form of social oppression resulting from a complex sociopolitical process that exploits and entrenches the power imbalance between people who stigmatize and those who are stigmatized. People who have a mental illness have identified mental health and health providers as key contributors to the stigmatization process and worthy targets of antistigma interventions. Six approaches to stigma reduction are described: education, protest, contact-based education, legislative reform, advocacy, and stigma self-management. Stigma denigrates the value of people who have a mental illness and the social and professional support systems designed to support them. It creates inequities in funding and service delivery that undermine recovery and full social participation. Mental health professionals have often been identified as part of the problem, but they can redress this situation by becoming important partners in antistigma work.
This paper explores stigma-responsive identity work amongst youths in Bondy, a town in the highly stigmatized suburbs of Paris. Within France, youths living in these banlieues are seen as an ...exceptional group, as deviant from ‘the norm’ that is based on the traditional French Republican values, and as a threat to the French unity and thereby to the Republic. Their ‘abnormality’ is institutionalized in their stigmatization. A common interpretation of identity construction of stigmatized people is the internalization of the attributed identity; a stigma in this case. However, both the variety of possible responses to stigma and the embeddedness of identities within a relational network of overlapping and contesting narratives suggest that identity construction within the banlieues and amongst its diverse youth population is more complex than straight internalization. In the Bondy case, reformulating the stigmatized identity by normalization proves to be the main form of stigma-responsive identity work. Rather than internalizing their stigma, the Bondy youths show an externalization of stigma: employing normalizing strategies that vary across age and gender they actively exclude the discourse of stigmatization and ‘abnormality’ from their self-identifications by redefining what the banlieue and banlieue identity means to them: normalcy. The Bondy youths do not reproduce dominant understandings of normalcy and deviance, but rework the existing norm by articulating a different understanding of ‘normalcy’ as a new reality of France inclusive of their diverse but shared banlieue identity. By researching identification processes within the banlieues, this paper illustrates that ‘deviant’ groups concentrated at the urban margins should not be oversimplified as homogeneous, and as passive victims that are subjected to a norm. To understand the lives of these urban youths, they should rather be approached as a diverse population “living together in diversity”, that can maneuver within the social structures of society.
Stigma related to chronic health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy, tuberculosis, mental illness and epilepsy is a global phenomenon with a severe impact on individuals and their families, and on ...the effectiveness of public health programmes. To compare stigma measurement in different disciplines, a literature review was conducted. References were obtained through a search of literature databases and through examining relevant bibliographies. Sixty-three papers were selected that addressed the issue of measurement of stigma or related constructs and that contained a sample of the instrument or items used. Five unpublished studies were also included in the review. The aspects of health-related stigma used for assessment can be grouped in five categories. First, the experience of actual discrimination and/or participation restrictions on the part of the person affected; second, attitudes towards the people affected; third, perceived or felt stigma; fourth, self or internalized stigma; and fifth, discriminatory and stigmatizing practices in (health) services, legislation, media and educational materials. Within each of these areas, different research methods have been used, including questionnaires, qualitative methods, indicators and scales. The characteristics of the instruments considered most promising are described and compared. The purpose of stigma assessment is to increase our understanding of stigma and its determinants and dynamics, to determine its extent or severity in a given setting or target group and to monitor changes in stigma over time. The conclusions from this review are that (a) the consequences of stigma are remarkably similar in different health conditions, cultures and public health programmes; (b) many instruments have been developed to assess the intensity and qualities of stigma, but often these have been condition-specific; and (c) development of generic instruments to assess health-related stigma may be possible. To achieve this aim, existing instruments should be further validated, developed or adapted for generic use, where possible.
The issue of HIV/AIDS is on the front burner in the Czech Republic because the number of newly diagnosed cases has been rising dramatically. One of the essential problems is late diagnosis of the ...disease. Another typical trend is longer life expectancy for those with HIV, including people with HIV who live to retirement age or start a family. HIV/AIDS is considered to be a so-called stigmatizing disease. In this context, there is no scientific evidence of the social impacts of the disease that could serve as a basis for social assistance provided to this target group. This article offers partial results of a qualitative research conducted in 2016. It deals with the phenomenon of stigmatization from the perspective of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Czech Republic, and considers it to be a social consequence of HIV-positivity. Data collection was based on the techniques of an in-depth semi-structured interview, observation, and two focus groups with people living with HIV/AIDS. Data analysis made use of the method of social constructionist grounded theory (described by K. Charmaz) and altogether it comprised 11 testimonies of people living with HIV/AIDS and 2 other relevant persons. The research results (which are framed by Goffman's theory of stigma) proved that stigmatization is a key issue for the respondents and that in their opinion, stigma related to HIV/AIDS significantly affects the lives of HIV-positive people.
A growing interest in person-centered care from a biopsychosocial perspective has led to increased attention to structural screening. The aim of this study was to develop an easy-to-comprehend ...screening instrument using single items to identify a broad range of health-related problems in adult burn survivors. This study builds on earlier work regarding content generation. Focus groups and expert meetings with healthcare providers informed content refinement, resulting in the Aftercare Problem List (APL). The instrument consists of 43 items divided into nine health domains: scars, daily life functioning, scars treatment, body perceptions, stigmatization, intimacy, mental health, relationships, financial concerns, and a positive coping domain. The APL also includes a Distress Thermometer and a question inquiring about preference to discuss the results with a healthcare provider. Subsequently, the APL was completed by 102 outpatients. To test face validity, a linear regression analysis showed that problems in three health domains, i.e., scars, mental health, and body perceptions, were significantly related to higher distress. Qualitative results revealed that a minority found the items difficult which led to further adjustment of the wording and the addition of illustrations. In summation, this study subscribes to the validity of using single items to screen for burn-related problems.
Newspapers that address mental disorders affect health care positively or negatively and can affect the public's perspective with the way they explain mental disorders.
To examine the representation ...of news about mental disorders published in Turkish newspapers.
Using the document analysis method, 230 news about mental disorders published in the six most read newspapers in 2022 were examined.
It has been concluded that the descriptive characteristics of individuals with mental disorders are often stated, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders are mentioned most, mental disorders are associated with delinquency and violent behaviour, these people are mostly represented by being detained as a result of the events, and negative concepts are frequently used in newspaper reports. Five sub-themes were determined under the main theme of "Negative Concepts": "Exaggerated Discourses", "Stigmatizing Discourses", "Discourses Targeting Mental Health", "Discourses That May Cause Negative Emotions", "Discourses Containing Misdescription".
Newspaper items about mental disorders are represented as stigmatizing and misleading by using negative concepts. The sensitivity of media workers, the development of mental health policies and cooperation with mental health workers contribute to the recovery process of individuals with mental disorders.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified Nigeria as one of the 13 African countries with a higher risk of spreading COVID-19. Although the Nigerian government and its health agencies set ...directives in place to help curb the spread of COVID-19, there are instances of unconcerned attitudes and adherence to false and superstitious beliefs surrounding COVID-19 among Nigerians. The current study examined the general perception of COVID-19 risk among Nigerians. Additionally, it examined the fear of possible stigmatization if an individual is diagnosed with COVID-19. A cross-section of 332 Nigerian men and women responded to measures on perceived vulnerability to diseases, perception of risk of being infected with COVID-19, COVID-19 stigma, and social and demographic characteristics. The findings show that respondents with a higher perception of vulnerability to diseases reported higher COVID-19 risk and perception of COVID-19-related stigma. Further, we found that gender, age, and education impacted COVID-19 risk and perception of COVID-19-related stigma. Our findings suggest that risk perceptions and attitudes towards COVID-19 can impact the level of preparedness against a pandemic. Also, the findings could inform strategies for the proper implementation of health protective measures at national, state, and local government levels during a viral outbreak.
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