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Patterns of experienced and anticipated discrimination in patients with Schizophrenia. Italian results from the INDIGO international multisite project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2011

Davide Maggiolo ,
Chiara Buizza ,
Michela Vittorielli ,
Mariangela Lanfredi ,
Giuseppe Rossi ,
Alessandro Ricci ,
Alessia Cicolini  and
Antonio Lasalvia
Davide Maggiolo
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Medicina di Comunità, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, Verona
Chiara Buizza
Affiliation:
Unità Operatiba di Riabilitazione Psichiatrica, IRCCS “Centro S. Giovanni di Dio”, Fatebenefratelli, Brescia
Michela Vittorielli
Affiliation:
Unità Operatiba di Riabilitazione Psichiatrica, IRCCS “Centro S. Giovanni di Dio”, Fatebenefratelli, Brescia
Mariangela Lanfredi
Affiliation:
Unità Operatiba di Riabilitazione Psichiatrica, IRCCS “Centro S. Giovanni di Dio”, Fatebenefratelli, Brescia
Giuseppe Rossi
Affiliation:
Unità Operatiba di Riabilitazione Psichiatrica, IRCCS “Centro S. Giovanni di Dio”, Fatebenefratelli, Brescia
Alessandro Ricci
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Medicina di Comunità, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, Verona
Alessia Cicolini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Medicina di Comunità, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, Verona
Antonio Lasalvia*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Medicina di Comunità, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, Verona
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. A. Lasalvia, Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Medicina di Comunità, Sezione di Psichiatria e Psicologia Clinica, Università di Verona, Policlinico [G.B. Rossi], P.le Scuro 10, 37134 Verona. E-mail: antonio.lasalvia@univr.it
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Summary

Aims — To describe patterns of experienced andanticipated discrimination in a sample of schizophrenic patients recruited in Italy in the context of the International Study of Discrimination and Stigma Outcomes (INDIGO). Methods — Cross-sectional survey on a sample of 50 people with clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia recruited in the Italian INDIGO sites of Verona and Brescia. The 41-item interview-based Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-10), which assesses how experienced and anticipated discrimination affects the life of people with schizophrenia, was used. Results — The most frequently occurring areas of experienced discrimination were discrimination by family members (44%), making and keeping friends (33%), keeping (36%) and finding a job (34%), getting or keeping a driving licence (32%). Anticipated discrimination was common in applying for work, training or education (58%), lookingfor close relationships (50%) and doing something important (48%); 68% felt the need to conceal their diagnosis. Positive experiences were rare, and getting welfare benefits/disability pensions was the only area where participants reported being treated with advantage (34%) more commonly than with disadvantage (8%). Overall, experienced discrimination reported by Italian patients was in the intermediate position of the score range of all INDIGO sites, whereas anticipated discrimination was lower than that reported in the other countries. Conclusions — Interventions to reduce discrimination against people with schizophrenia may need to address both actual and anticipated discrimination. Targeted therapeutic strategies aiming to improve self-esteem of people with schizophrenia may be usefulto facilitate their social participation and full inclusion in the community.

Declaration of Interest: The authors declare they have not competing interests.

Keywords

stigmadiscriminationschizophrenia
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , December 2010 , pp. 314 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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