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Glossary

 

Actual stigma

Actual stigma is compared in the Attitudes to Mental Illness research with perceived stigma. Actual stigma is measured as the extent to which a respondent believes that a given condition (depression, schizophrenia, or diabetes) should matter in a workplace context for someone’s likelihood of promotion.

Attitudes

In the Attitudes to Mental Illness research, (mental health-related) attitudes are understood as 1 of the 3 domains of public stigma (along with behaviour and knowledge). Poor attitudes towards mental illness are understood as constituting a social problem of prejudice. Attitudes are measured through the Community Attitudes to Mental Illness (CAMI) scale.

Behaviour

In the Attitudes to Mental Illness research, (mental health-related) behaviour is understood as 1 of the 3 domains of public stigma (along with attitudes and knowledge). Poor behaviour towards mental illness is understood as constituting a social problem of discrimination. Behaviour is measured through the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS).

Community Attitudes to Mental Illness (CAMI)

Community Attitudes to Mental Illness is a social psychological tool developed to measure attitudes towards mental illness at the community or national level. By asking respondents about their agreement with 27 attitude statements, the CAMI scale is able to measure two aspects of attitudes towards mental illness:

  • The extent to which respondents hold prejudicial or exclusionary attitudes
  • The extent to which respondents are tolerant and support community care for people with mental health problems

An example of an attitude statement that measures prejudice / exclusion is “People with mental health problems don’t deserve our sympathy” while an example of an attitudes statement that measures tolerance and support for community care is “No-one has the right to exclude people with mental health from their community”. Respondents are asked the extent to which they agree with the attitude statements, ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Respondents score more highly on the CAMI scale the less prejudicial and the more tolerant their attitudes are.

Intended behaviour

Intended behaviour is understood in the Attitudes to Mental Illness research as the behaviour towards people with mental health problems that respondents intend to perform in the future. It is compared with reported behaviour (which is the behaviour respondents report as already having performed with relation to people with mental health problems). Intended behaviour is measured through the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) by asking respondents’ willingness to live with, work with, live nearby, and continue a relationship with a friend with mental health problems.

Knowledge

In the Attitudes to Mental Illness research, (mental health-related) knowledge is understood as 1 of the 3 domains of public stigma (along with behaviour and knowledge). Poor knowledge about mental illness is understood as constituting a social problem of ignorance. Mental health-related knowledge is measured through the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) scale.

Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS)

The Mental Health Knowledge Schedule is a social psychological tool developed to measure knowledge about mental health and mental illness at the community or national level. The Mental Health Knowledge Schedule asks respondents whether 6 factual statements about mental illness are true or false and then whether 6 conditions (depression, stress, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, drug addiction, and grief) are mental health problems.

An example of a factual statement is “Most people with mental health problems want to have paid employment” (which is true). Not all factual statements are true. Respondents score more highly on the MAKS scale the more factual statements they correctly identify as true or false and the greater number of conditions they correctly identify as mental health problems.

Perceived stigma

Perceived stigma is compared in the Attitudes to Mental Illness research with actual stigma. Perceived stigma is measured as the extent to which a respondent believes that a given condition (depression, schizophrenia, or diabetes) does in fact matter in a workplace context for someone’s likelihood of promotion.

Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS)

The Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale is a social psychological tool developed to measure behaviour towards people with mental health problems at the community or national level. The Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale asks respondents 8 questions relating to their behaviour towards people with mental health problems. Reported behaviour is measured by asking respondents whether they do live with, work with, live nearby, or have a close friend with a mental health problem. Intended behaviour is instead measured by asking respondents whether they would live with, work with, live nearby, or continue a relationship with a friend with a mental health problem.

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