Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T16:38:43.672Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reported and Intended Behaviour Towards Those With Mental Health Problems in the Czech Republic and England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2015

P. Winkler ,
L. Csémy ,
M. Janoušková ,
K. Mladá ,
L. Bankovská Motlová  and
S. Evans-Lacko
P. Winkler*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67Klecany, Czech Republic Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
L. Csémy
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67Klecany, Czech Republic
M. Janoušková
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67Klecany, Czech Republic Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00Brno, Czech Republic
K. Mladá
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67Klecany, Czech Republic
L. Bankovská Motlová
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67Klecany, Czech Republic 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruská 87, 100 00Praha, Czech Republic
S. Evans-Lacko
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
*
*Corresponding author at: Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, 250 67 Klecany, Czech Republic. Tel.: +00420 728 221 883. E-mail address: petr.winkler@nudz.cz (P. Winkler).
Get access

Abstract

This is one of the first studies, which compares the level of stigmatizing behaviour in countries that used to be on the opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. The aim was to identify the prevalence of reported and intended stigmatizing behaviour towards those with mental health problems in the Czech Republic and to compare these findings with the findings from England. The 8-item Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) was used to assess stigmatising behaviour among a representative sample of the Czech population (n = 1797). Results were compared with the findings of an analogous survey from England (n = 1720), which also used the RIBS. The extent of reported behaviour (i.e., past and present experiences with those with mental health problems) was lower in the Czech Republic than in England. While 12.7% of Czechs reported that they lived, 12.9% that they worked, and 15.3% that they were acquainted with someone who had mental health problems, the respective numbers for England were 18.5%, 26.3% and 32.5% (P < 0.001 in each of these items). On the other hand, the extent of intended stigmatizing behaviour towards those with mental health problems is considerably higher in the Czech Republic. Out of maximum 20 points attached to possible responses to the RIBS items 5–8, Czechs had a lower total score (x = 11.0, SD = 4.0) compared to English respondents (x = 16.1, SD = 3.6), indicating lower willingness to accept a person with mental health problems (P < 0.001). The prevalence of stigmatizing behaviour in the Czech Republic is worrying. Both, further research and evidence based anti-stigma interventions, should be pursued in order to better understand and decrease stigmatizing behaviour in the Czech Republic and possibly across the post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Keywords

StigmaMental illnessSocial distanceCentral and Eastern EuropePost-communism
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 6 , September 2015 , pp. 801 - 806
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angermeyer, M.C., Matschinger, H.Social distance towards the mentally ill: results of representative surveys in the Federal Republic of Germany. Psychol Med 1997;27:131–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Angermeyer, M.C., Matschinger, H., Corrigan, P.W.Familiarity with mental illness and social distance from people with schizophrenia and major depression: testing a model using data from a representative population survey. Schizophr Res 2004;69:175–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angermeyer, M.C., Matschinger, H., Schomerus, G.Attitudes towards psychiatric treatment and people with mental illness: changes over two decades. Br J Psychiatry 2013;203:146–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beldie, A., den Boer, J.A., Brain, C., Constant, E., Figueira, M.L., Filipcic, I., et al.Fighting stigma of mental illness in midsize European countries. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2012;47:1–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chew-Graham, C.A., Rogers, A., Yassin, N.‘I wouldn’t want it on my CV or their records’: medical students’ experiences of help seeking for mental health problems. Med Educ 2003;37:873–880.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
The NHS Information Centre. Mental Health and Community, Attitudes to mental illness 2011 – survey report. The NHS Information Centre; 2014.Available at http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB00292/atti-ment-illn-2011-sur-rep.pdf.Google Scholar
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., et al.What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychol Med 2014;45(01):1–17.Google ScholarPubMed
Cook, J.E., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Meyer, I.H., Busch, J.T.Intervening within and across levels: a multilevel approach to stigma and public health. Soc Sci Med 2014;103:101–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corrigan, P.W.Mental health stigma as social attribution: implications for research methods and attitude change. Clin Psychol Sci Pract 2000;7:48–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrigan, P.W., Watson, A.C.The stigma of psychiatric disorders and the gender, ethnicity, and education of the perceiver. Community Mental Health J 2007;43:439–458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corrigan, P.W., Edwards, A.B., Green, A., Diwan, S.L., Penn, D.L.Prejudice, social distance, and familiarity with mental illness. Schizophr Bull 2001;27:219–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corrigan, P.W., Green, A., Lundin, R., Kubiak, M.A., Penn, D.L.Familiarity with and social distance from people who have serious mental illness. Psychiatr Serv 2001;52:953–958.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corrigan, P.W., River, L.P., Lundin, R.K., Penn, D.L., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., Campion, J., et al.Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophr Bull 2001;27:187–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crisp, A.H., Gelder, M.G., Rix, S., Meltzer, H.I., Rowlands, O.J.Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses. Br J Psychiatry 2000;177:4–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crisp, A.H., Cowan, L., Hart, D.The college's anti-stigma campaign, 1998–2003. A shortened version of the concluding report. Psychiatr Bull 2004;28:133–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dlouhy, M.Mental health services in the health accounts: the Czech Republic. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2011;46:447–453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dlouhy, M.Mental health policy in Eastern Europe: a comparative analysis of seven mental health systems. BMC Health Serv Res 2014;14:42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
EC Green paper: improving the mental health of the population: towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union. Brussels: European Commission;2005.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, D., Downs, M.F., Golberstein, E., Zivin, K.Stigma and help seeking for mental health among college students. Med Care Res Rev 2009;66:522–541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Lacko, S., Rose, D., Little, K., Flach, C., Rhydderch, D., Henderson, C., et al.Development and psychometric properties of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS): a stigma-related behaviour measure. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 2011;20:263–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Lacko, S., Brohan, E., Mojtabai, R., Thornicroft, G.Association between public views of mental illness and self-stigma among individuals with mental illness in 14 European countries. Psychol Med 2012;42:1741–1752.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Lacko, S., Knapp, M., McCrone, P., Thornicroft, G., Mojtabai, R.The mental health consequences of the recession: economic hardship and employment of people with mental health problems in 27 European countries. PLoS One 2013;8:e69792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Lacko, S., Malcolm, E., West, K., Rose, D., London, J., Rusch, N., et al.Influence of time to change's social marketing interventions on stigma in England 2009–2011. Br J Psychiatry 2013;202:S77–S88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans-Lacko, S., Henderson, C., Thornicroft, G.Public knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding people with mental illness in England 2009–2012. Br J Psychiatry 2013;202Supplement:s51–s57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans-Lacko, S., Courtin, E., Fiorillo, A., Knapp, M., Luciano, M., Park, A., et al.The state of the art in European research on reducing social exclusion and stigma-related to mental health: a systematic mapping of the literature. Eur Psychiatry 2014;29:381–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Lacko, S., Corker, E., Williams, P., Henderson, C., Thornicroft, G.Effect of the time to change anti-stigma campaign on trends in mental illness related public stigma among the English population in 2003? 13: an analysis of survey data. Lancet Psychiatry 2014;1:121–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Givens, J.L., Tjia, J.Depressed medical students’ use of mental health services and barriers to use. Acad Med 2002;77:918–921.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goffman, E.Stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall; 1963.Google Scholar
Hansson, L., Markstrom, U.The effectiveness of an anti-stigma intervention in a basic police officer training programme: a controlled study. BMC Psychiatry 2014;14:55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haro, J.M., Ayuso-Mateos, J.L., Bitter, I., Demotes-Mainard, J., Leboyer, M., Lewis, S.W., et al.ROAMER: roadmap for mental health research in Europe. Int J Meth Psychiatr Res 2014;23:1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henderson, C., Thornicroft, G.Stigma and discrimination in mental illness: time to change. Lancet 2009;373:1928–1930.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Höschl, C., Winkler, P., Pěč, O.The state of psychiatry in the Czech Republic. Int Rev Psychiatry 2012;24:278–285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Komiya, N., Good, G.E., Sherrod, N.B.Emotional openness as a predictor of college students’ attitudes toward seeking psychological help. J Couns Psychol 2000;47:138–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauber, C., Nordt, C., Falcato, L., Rössler, W.Factors influencing social distance toward people with mental illness. Community Mental Health J 2004;40:265–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, J., Li, J., Thornicroft, G., Huang, Y.Levels of stigma among community mental health staff in Guangzhou, China. BMC Psychiatry 2014;14:231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Link, B.G., Phelan, J.C.Conceptualizing stigma. Annu Rev Soc 2001;27:363–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MHCZ, Strategie reformy psychiatrické péče [Mental health care reform strategy]. Prague: Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic; 2013.Google Scholar
Mojtabai, R.Mental illness stigma and willingness to seek mental health care in the European Union. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2010;45:705–712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Papadopoulos, C., Foster, J., Caldwell, K.‘Individualism-collectivism’ as an explanatory device for mental illness stigma. Community Mental Health J 2013;49:270–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paykel, E., Hart, D., Priest, R.Changes in public attitudes to depression during the defeat depression campaign. Br J Psychiatry 1998;173:519–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phelan, J.C., Bromet, E.J., Link, B.G.Psychiatric illness and family stigma. Schizophr Bull 1998;24:115–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Priest, R.G.A new initiative on depression. Br J Gen Pract 1991;41:487.Google ScholarPubMed
Rusch, N., Angermeyer, M.C., Corrigan, P.W.Mental illness stigma: concepts, consequences, and initiatives to reduce stigma. Eur Psychiatry 2005;20:529–539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rusch, N., Evans-Lacko, S., Thornicroft, G.What is a mental illness? Public views and their effects on attitudes and disclosure. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2012;46:641–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schomerus, G., Matschinger, H., Kenzin, D., Breier, P., Angermeyer, M.C.Public attitudes towards mental patients: a comparison between Novosibirsk, Bratislava and German cities. Eur Psychiatry 2006;21:436–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Semrau, M., Barley, E.A., Law, A., Thornicroft, G.Lessons learned in developing community mental health care in Europe. World Psychiatry 2011;10:217–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornicroft, G.Shunned: discrimination against people with mental illness. Geneva: Oxford; 2006.Google Scholar
Thornicroft, G., Rose, D., Kassam, A., Sartorius, N.Stigma: ignorance, prejudice or discrimination?. Br J Psychiatry 2007;190:192–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornicroft, G., Brohan, E., Rose, D., Sartorius, N., Leese, M.Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet 2009;373:408–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vogel, D.L., Wade, N.G., Hackler, A.H.Perceived public stigma and the willingness to seek counseling: the mediating roles of self-stigma and attitudes toward counseling. J Couns Psychol 2007;54:40–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHO, The World health report: 2001: mental health: new understanding, new hope. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.Google Scholar
WHO. Mental Health Action Plan for Europe: Facing the Challenges, Building Solutions. First WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health Helsinki, Finland 12–15 January 2005: World Health Organization. 2005.Google Scholar
WHO. Mental health atlas. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.Google Scholar
WHO. The European mental health action plan. Copenhagen: WHO; 2013.Google Scholar
WHO, Process of translation and adaptation of instruments. Geneva: WHO; 2014.http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/research_tools/translation/en/.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, S., Koike, S., Watanabe, K., Ando, S.Development of a Japanese version of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale: reliability and validity. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2014;68:448–455.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.