Citation

Martinelli TF, Meerkerk GJ, Nagelhout GE, Brouwers EPM, van Weeghel J, Rabbers G, van de Mheen D. Health Soc. Care Community 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Tranzo Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/hsc.12973

PMID

32154632

Abstract

Persons with mental health problems and/or substance addictions (MHPSA) are stigmatised more than persons with physical conditions. This includes stigmatisation by care professionals. Stigma is considered one of the most important barriers for recovery from these conditions. There is an ongoing debate that use of language can exacerbate or diminish stigmatisation. Therefore, we conducted an experiment examining how four different ways of referring to a person with (a) alcohol addiction, (b) drug addiction, (c) depression and (d) schizophrenia are related to stigmatising attitudes by care professionals in the Netherlands. We partially replicated two studies performed in the United States and used surveys with vignettes containing either 'disorder-first', 'person-first', 'victim' and 'recovery' language, which were randomly assigned to participants (n = 361). No significant differences between language conditions were found for any of the vignettes. Our findings suggest that subtle differences in language to refer to persons with mental health problems or substance addictions have no effect on stigmatising attitudes by care professionals in the Netherlands. However, more research is needed to determine the effect of language use on other groups, such as individuals with MHPSA.

© 2020 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

experiment; language; mental health; professionals; stigma; substance addiction