Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Mental Illness, Schizophrenia
Conditions
Brief summary
Survey experiment to estimate drivers of mental illness stigma
Detailed description
Despite significant advances in scientific understanding of brain and substance use disorders accompanied by significant advances in treatment and improvements in prognosis, mental illness remains highly stigmatized throughout the world. Previous studies suggest that portraying mental illness as treatable can reduce negative attitudes toward persons with mental illness. This randomized controlled trial compares the effects of exposing study participants to vignettes portraying persons with untreated and symptomatic mental illness vs. treated mental illness with complete response vs. treated mental illness with relapse. It is hypothesized, based on prior work, that study participants exposed to vignettes depicting treated mental illness with completed response would have the greatest effect on reducing negative attitudes toward persons with mental illness, followed by treated mental illness with relapse and untreated and symptomatic mental illness.
Interventions
OTHERSurvey questionnaire
Each version of the questionnaire portrays a young Ugandan woman with different profiles of illness severity, treatment, and treatment response.
Sponsors
Massachusetts General Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* all persons who considered Nyakabare Parish their primary place of residence and who were capable of providing consent
Exclusion criteria
* minors younger than 18 years of age, with the exception of emancipated minors * persons who did not consider Nyakabare their primary place of residence, e.g., persons who happened to be visiting Nyakabare at the time of the survey or who owned a home in Nyakabare but spent most of their time outside the parish * persons with whom research staff could not communicate, e.g., due to deafness, mutism, or aphasia * persons with psychosis, neurological damage, acute intoxication, or other cognitive impairment (all of which were determined informally in the field by non-clinical research staff in consultation with a supervisor)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Social Distance | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Willingness to have the woman portrayed in the vignette to marry into the study participant's family (single item culturally adapted instrument developed specifically for this study) |
| Perceived Norms about Social Distance | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Study participant's perception of the extent to which other people would be willing to have the woman portrayed in the vignette to marry into their families (single item culturally adapted instrument developed specifically for this study) |
| Negative Attitudes (Attribution) | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Personal belief that the symptoms of the woman portrayed in the vignette represent divine punishment (single item culturally adapted instrument developed specifically for this study) |
| Perceived Norms about Negative Attitudes (Attribution) | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Study participant's perception of the extent to which other people believe that the symptoms of the woman portrayed in the vignette represent divine punishment (single item culturally adapted instrument developed specifically for this study) |
| Negative Attitudes (Shame) | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Personal belief that the symptoms of the woman portrayed in the vignette bring shame upon her family |
| Perceived Norms about Negative Attitudes (Shame) | Immediate (assessed with respect to the study participant's beliefs at a single time point, which is the time at which the survey is administered) | Study participant's perception of the extent to which other people believe that the symptoms of the woman portrayed in the vignette bring shame upon her family (single item culturally adapted instrument developed specifically for this study) |
Countries
Uganda
Outcome results
None listed