(PS13-A23) Mental Illness Stigma Among Psychology Trainees

Background

Mental health conditions are highly stigmatized in our culture, and these systemic biases permeate mental health service professions despite this being contrary to the field’s values and mission (Elliott & Ragsdale, 2020; Peris et al., 2008). Mental illness stigma exacerbates feelings of burnout, and reduces treatment-seeking among psychology trainees (Berger, 2022; Devendorf et al., 2023; Victor, Schleider, et al., 2022). Intersectionality and minority stress theories suggest that those with additional marginalized identities may be particularly burdened by mental illness stigma (Victor, Devendorf, et al., 2022; Zamir et al., 2022). While psychology trainees are clearly vulnerable to the effects of mental illness stigma (Grice et al., 2018), their unique experiences have not been studied through the lens of critical theory. Drawing from intersectionality and minority stress theories, this exploratory study aims to investigate the levels of mental illness stigma and discrimination experienced by psychology trainees, examining the ways in which mental illness stigma may converge with other forms of marginalization or privilege and social location. 

Methods

For this cross-sectional study, data will be collected from approximately 200 participants from April 2023-August 2023. Participants will include psychology doctoral trainees and predoctoral researchers who identify as having a mental illness. After providing sociodemographic information (e.g. race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability status) and past and present mental illness diagnoses, participants will complete four previously validated scales to assess experiences of mental illness stigma and discrimination. Additional open-ended items will elicit respondents’ perspectives on how other identities intersect with their experiences of mental illness stigma and living with a mental illness. MANOVA will be used to examine associations between sociodemographic factors, mental illness diagnoses, and responses on the stigma and discrimination scales. Open-ended responses will be analyzed using the NVivo software package. 

Discussion

By incorporating intersectionality and minority stress theories into our examination of mental illness stigma, this study will contribute meaningfully to the growing body of literature on this topic. The results of this study can inform anti-stigma and anti-discrimination efforts at multiple levels of influence, from graduate programs to professional organizations, to help support recruitment and retention of the next generation of diverse psychologists.