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Bipolar Stigma in Jewish Communities in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

L. Smith*
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Social Work, Houston, United States of America
K. Brewer
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire, College Of Human And Health Sciences, Durham, United States of America
R. Gearing
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Mh-rites Research Center, Houston, United States of America
L.C. Carr
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Mh-rites Research Center, Houston, United States of America
D. Clark
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Social Work, Houston, United States of America
A. Robinson
Affiliation:
University of Houston, Social Work, Houston, United States of America
D. Roe
Affiliation:
University of Haifa, Community Mental Health, Haifa, Israel
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

This study investigated differences in mood disorder public stigma endorsed by Jewish adults. Specifically, it examined the association between public stigma and the symptomatology and gender of individuals with mood disorders and characteristics of respondents. The symptomatology investigated included major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder presenting with mania or depression. The public stigma factors measured for mood disorders were recovery, relationship disruption, hygiene, anxiety, and treatment/professional efficacy.

Objectives

Do symptomatology and gender predict stigma for mood disorders? For Jewish adults, do gender, age, religious characteristics, mental health history, and perceived stigma for mental illness predict their stigma toward individuals with mood disorders?

Methods

A convenience sample of 243 Jewish adults were randomly administered vignettes using a factorial design. MANCOVA was used for analysis. The Mental Illness Stigma Scale (Day et al., 2007) and the Devaluation of Consumer scale (Struening et al., 2001) were used to measure public and perceived stigma respectively.

Results

showed that recovery, relationship disruption, and hygiene stigmas were associated with vignette subject symptomatology, an interaction was found between respondent gender and age for treatability/professional efficacy stigma, and perceived stigma was correlated with public stigma factors. Consistent with previous research, the highest levels of stigma were found for individuals with bipolar disorder presenting with mania (Wolkenstein & Meyer, 2008).

Conclusions

These findings increase our knowledge of mood disorder stigma existing in the Jewish community and supports research showing that bipolar disorder presenting with mania is the most stigmatized type of mood disorder symptomatology (Wolkenstein & Meyer, 2008).

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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