Meta-analysis of stigma and mental health

Recent research has emphasized the adverse effects of stigma on minority groups’ mental health. Governments and service agencies have put much effort into combating stigma against a variety of conditions. Nevertheless, previous empirical research on the stigma–mental health relationship has yielded...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2007-07, Vol.65 (2), p.245-261
Main Authors: Mak, Winnie W.S., Poon, Cecilia Y.M., Pun, Loraine Y.K., Cheung, Shu Fai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Correlation analysis
Empirical research
Humans
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Mental illness
Meta-analysis
Meta-analysis Stigma Mental health Review
Minorities
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority Groups
Miscellaneous
Prejudice
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Regression analysis
Research trends
Review
Social status
Social stratification
Stigma
Stigmatization
Systematic review
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Summary:Recent research has emphasized the adverse effects of stigma on minority groups’ mental health. Governments and service agencies have put much effort into combating stigma against a variety of conditions. Nevertheless, previous empirical research on the stigma–mental health relationship has yielded inconclusive findings, varying from strong negative to zero correlations. Thus, whether stigma is related significantly to mental health is yet to be confirmed. Using meta-analysis, the associations between stigma and mental health from 49 empirical studies were examined across various stigmatized conditions and mental health indices. Possible moderators were also explored. The mean correlation between stigma and average mental health scores corrected for sampling error, unreliability, and other artifacts was −.28 ( N=10,567, k=52). No strong moderators were found, yet meaningful patterns were observed. Implications of the results are discussed.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.03.015