Video-based Intervention to Reduce Stigma of Mental Illness in Taiwanese Vocational High School Students: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Autor: Yu-Tzeng Wang, 王又增
Rok vydání: 2018
Druh dokumentu: 學位論文 ; thesis
Popis: 106
Background and Purpose: Stigma, prejudice, and discriminative behaviors toward mental illness often lead to negative experiences and feelings, which in turn lead to barriers of help seeking, among patients with mental illness. Many developed countries implemented policies to reduce mental illness stigma by improving the awareness, attitude and behavior toward mental illness in the public. Many mental illnesses start during adolescence, and mental illness stigma may prevent help-seeking and early detection. Negative stereotyped perceptions toward mental illness that are shaped during adolescence may also continue into adulthood. Recent studies using video-based interventions that provide education and contact experiences showed some promising effects in reducing mental illness stigma. However, there is no previous study of comparing the effects between video-based education and contact on stigma toward different mental illnesses in adolescents. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects on knowledge, attitude, and social distance toward depression and schizophrenia of video-based education and contact in vocational high school students.Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in first-year students in a vocational high school in Taiwan. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The control group watched a video of environmental issues not related to mental illness. The education group watched a video that provided information about depression and schizophrenia. The contact group watched a video of patients with depression or schizophrenia sharing their experiences of illness and discrimination. All participants completed a questionnaire that measured the level of mental illness stigma in three aspects (knowledge, attitude, and social distance) at three time points: pre-test, immediate post-test, and two-month follow-up. We examined group differences in changes of mental illness stigma using generalized estimation equation.Results: One hundred and nighty-seven participants were enrolled, including 64, 68, and 65 in the control group, education group, and contact group respectively. Video-based education showed an effect of improving knowledge toward schizophrenia at immediate post-test. Video-based contact experiences showed an effect of improving social distance toward both depression and schizophrenia at immediate post-test as well as improving attitude toward depression at both immediate post-test and two-month follow-up.Conclusion: Video-based education and contact interventions reduced stigma toward mental illness immediately and two months later in adolescents, while the effect varied by intervention (education versus contact), mental illness, and aspects of stigma. There is a need for future research into factors influencing the intervention effect and ways to enhance and prolong the effect of video-based interventions. The findings will inform future interventions aimed at reducing mental illness stigma.
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