Title of Research
Start Date
18-8-2017 10:00 AM
End Date
18-8-2017 11:30 AM
Abstract
Abstract
Background: One in five adolescents live with a mental health condition, with half developing the condition by age 14 and three quarters by age 24. Many adolescents choose not to seek treatment due to the stigma associated with being labeled by their peer groups. Due to the cost of delayed treatment, as well as the impact of public and self-stigma on the individual, research on interventions that seek to decrease stigma levels in adolescents is necessary.
Objectives: To identify what types of interventions currently exist within the high school setting that help decrease stigma in the mentally ill adolescent population.
Method: An integrative literature review was employed, using articles pulled from Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and PubMed from the years of 2006-2017. The strategy of ancestry was also utilized.
Results: Knowledge-based and contact-based interventions remain the most well researched qualitatively, albeit without long term data that show that stigma remained decreased. Recent studies show promising results with a hybrid approach, combining education and contact-based into a single intervention. Adolescent-led interventions are currently in their infancy but have the potential to successfully reduce mental illness stigma and concurrently increase mental health literacy. Combining education and contact-based interventions together produced the most positive results in decreasing stigma associated with having a mental illness in the high school setting.
Conclusions: Most of the research conducted in stigma over the last thirty years has been adult focused and studies that do include adolescents remain primarily qualitative, meta-analytical, and lacking in evidenced-based practice. However, a large amount of adolescent research has recently come to fruition. Future interventions to decrease stigma in adolescents should focus on the hybrid approach.
Key Words: Stigma, adolescent, interventions, mental illness, high school
Included in
Interventions that Decrease Stigma in the Mentally Ill Adolescent Population: An Integrative Review of Literature
Abstract
Background: One in five adolescents live with a mental health condition, with half developing the condition by age 14 and three quarters by age 24. Many adolescents choose not to seek treatment due to the stigma associated with being labeled by their peer groups. Due to the cost of delayed treatment, as well as the impact of public and self-stigma on the individual, research on interventions that seek to decrease stigma levels in adolescents is necessary.
Objectives: To identify what types of interventions currently exist within the high school setting that help decrease stigma in the mentally ill adolescent population.
Method: An integrative literature review was employed, using articles pulled from Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and PubMed from the years of 2006-2017. The strategy of ancestry was also utilized.
Results: Knowledge-based and contact-based interventions remain the most well researched qualitatively, albeit without long term data that show that stigma remained decreased. Recent studies show promising results with a hybrid approach, combining education and contact-based into a single intervention. Adolescent-led interventions are currently in their infancy but have the potential to successfully reduce mental illness stigma and concurrently increase mental health literacy. Combining education and contact-based interventions together produced the most positive results in decreasing stigma associated with having a mental illness in the high school setting.
Conclusions: Most of the research conducted in stigma over the last thirty years has been adult focused and studies that do include adolescents remain primarily qualitative, meta-analytical, and lacking in evidenced-based practice. However, a large amount of adolescent research has recently come to fruition. Future interventions to decrease stigma in adolescents should focus on the hybrid approach.
Key Words: Stigma, adolescent, interventions, mental illness, high school