Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-ffbbcc459-gmk6f Total loading time: 0.32 Render date: 2022-03-11T12:43:26.311Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "useRatesEcommerce": false, "useNewApi": true }
  • English
The British Journal of Psychiatry The British Journal of Psychiatry

Article contents

Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression

Randomised controlled trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kathleen M. Griffiths ,
Helen Christensen ,
Anthony F. Jorm ,
Kimberley Evans  and
Chloe Groves
Kathleen M. Griffiths*
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Helen Christensen
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Anthony F. Jorm
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Kimberley Evans
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Chloe Groves
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
*
Dr Kathy Griffiths, Director, Depression and Anxiety Consumer Research Unit, Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Fax: +62 2 6125 0733; e-mail: Kathy.griffiths@anu.edu.au
Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

HTML view is not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Background

Little is known about the efficacy of educational interventions for reducing the stigma associated with depression.

Aims

To investigate the effects on stigma of two internet depression sites.

Method

A sample of 525 individuals with elevated scores on a depression assessment scale were randomly allocated to a depression information website (BluePages), a cognitive–behavioural skills training website (MoodGYM) or an attention control condition. Personal stigma (personal stigmatising attitudes to depression) and perceived stigma (perception of what most other people believe) were assessed before and after the intervention.

Results

Relative to the control, the internet sites significantly reduced personal stigma, although the effects were small. BluePages had no effect on perceived stigma and MoodGYM was associated with an increase in perceived stigma relative to the control. Changes in stigma were not mediated by changes in depression, depression literacy or cognitive–behavioural therapy literacy.

Conclusions

The internet warrants further investigation as a means of delivering stigma reduction programmes for depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 185 , Issue 4 , October 2004 , pp. 342 - 349
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None.

References

Alexander, L. A. & Link, B. G. (2003) The impact of contact on stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 271–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, G. & Slade, T. (2001) Interpreting scores on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (KI0). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25, 494–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, R. & Kenny, D. (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christensen, H., Griffiths, K. M. & Jorm, A. F. (2004) Delivering interventions for depression by using the internet: randomised controlled trial. BMJ, 328, 265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd edn). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum.Google Scholar
Corrigan, P. W. & Watson, A. C. (2002) The paradox of self-stigma and mental illness. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 35–53.Google Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., et al (2000) Stigmatizing attributions about mental illness. Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 91–102.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., Edwards, A. B., Green, A., et al (2001a) Prejudice, social distance, and familiarity with mental illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 27, 219–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., et al (2001b) Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 27, 187–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Couture, S. M. & Penn, D. L. (2003) Interpersonal contact and the stigma of mental illness: a review of the literature. Journal of Mental Health, 12, 291–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dietrich, S., Beck, M., Bujantugs, B., et al (2004) The relationship between public causal beliefs and social distance toward mentally ill people. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 348–354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, A. J. (2002) Stigmain psychiatry. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 95, 72–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, K. M. & Christensen, H. (2004) Commentary on ‘The relationship between public causal beliefs and social distance toward mentally ill people'. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 355–357.Google Scholar
Haghighat, R. (2001) A unitary theory of stigmatisation: pursuit of self-interest and routes to destigmatisation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 207–215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawking, D. A., Craswell, N. E., Bailey, P. R., et al (2001) Measuring search engine quality. Information Retrieval, 4, 3–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayward, P. & Bright, J. A. (1997) Stigma and mental illness: a review and critique. Journal of Mental Health, 6, 345–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollon, S. D. & Kendall, P. C. (1980) Cognitive self statement in depression: development of an Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 4, 383–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, E. P., Corrigan, P. W., Williams, P., et al (1999) Changing attitudes about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25, 447–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F., Griffiths, K. M., Christensen, H., et al (2003) Providing information about the effectiveness of treatment options to depressed people in the community: a randomized controlled trial of effects on mental health literacy, help-seeking and symptoms. Psychological Medicine, 33, 1071–1079.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Link, B. G., Struening, E. L., Rahav, M., et al (1997) On stigma and its consequences: evidence from a longitudinal study of men with dual diagnoses of mental illness and substance abuse. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 177–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackinnon, D. (1994) Analysis of mediating variables in prevention and intervention research. NIDA Research Monograph, 139, 127–153.Google ScholarPubMed
Morrison, J. K. (1977) Changing negative attributions to mental patients by means of demythologizing seminars. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 549–551.3.0.CO;2-P>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, J. K. & Teta, D. C. (1979) Impact of a humanistic approach on students’ attitudes, attributions, and ethical conflicts. Psychological Reports, 45, 863–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penn, D. L., Kommana, S., Mansfield, M., et al (1999) Dispelling the stigma of schizophrenia: II. The impact of information on dangerousness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25, 437–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinfold, V., Huxley, P., Thornicroft, G., et al (2003a) Reducing psychiatric stigma and discrimination. Evaluating an educational intervention with the police force in England. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38, 337–344.Google Scholar
Pinfold, V., Toulmin, H., Thornicroft, G., et al (2003b) Reducing psychiatric stigma and discrimination: evaluation of educational interventions in UK secondary schools. British Journal of Health Psychology, 182, 342–346.Google Scholar
Radloff, L. S. (1977) The CES–D scale. A self-report depression score for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurements, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, C. S., Robinson, D. R. & Hausmann, L. R. M. (2001) Stereotyping among providers and consumers of public mental health services – the role of perceived group variability. Behavior Modification, 25, 406–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sobel, M. (1982) Asymptomatic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In Sociological Methodology (ed. Leinhart, S.), pp. 290–312. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Walker, I. & Read, J. (2002) The differential effectiveness of psychosocial and biogenetic causal explanations in reducing negative attitudes toward ‘mental illness'. Psychiatry, 65, 313–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, J. E., Robins, L. N., Bushnell, J. A., et al (1994) Perceived barriers to care in St Louis (USA) and Christchurch (NZ): reasons for not seeking professional help for psychological distress. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 29, 155–164.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.
You have Access
392
Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *