Abstract
Mental health stigma
is often associated with symptom progression and delays in treatment seeking.
This study field recruited a sample of 507 Ghanaian adults to take part in a
survey utilizing a randomized experimental vignette design to learn more about
their conceptualizations of mental health symptoms and examine attitudes toward
those experiencing those symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned a
vignette featuring a person with symptoms of one of five common mental health
concerns. They were then asked to indicate if the vignette subject had a
“problem” and complete a multidimensional stigma measure. Results indicate that
relational and treatability related stigma were inversely related to
perceptions of if the vignette subject had a problem, while public and
disclosure related stigma were directly associated with problem perception.
Thus, stigma reduction efforts may be particularly effective when tailored to
target specific stigma domains. Implications for future research and social
policy are explored.