Can a brief educational intervention reduce the stigma associated with mental illness?

Abstract

This study examined stigma and prejudice towards mental illness within two different communities and tested whether a brief educational reading intervention could reduce this stigma. Participants from a small, public liberal arts college and a minority community in New York City were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: The mental health reading condition (experimental) and the non-mental health reading condition (control). We then assessed their levels of prejudice towards mental illness. Results revealed a significant main effect of the participant group. Participants from Purchase College had lower prejudice towards mental illness scores than non-student participants from a minority community. However, there was not a significant effect of the brief educational intervention, which failed to lower stigmatized attitudes. These findings suggest that reading the short educational intervention did not change a person's attitude towards mental illnesses, although a small sample size limits what we can conclude from this study Keywords: mental health, stigma, attitude towards mental illnesses, educational intervention, minority community, college students.