The stigma of mental health, homelessness and intellectual disability, development of a national stigma survey with an intersectional gender perspective

Abstract

Background: Social stigma towards people with mental health problems, homeless people or people with intellectual disabilities leads to a significant restriction of their human rights. Such stigma, which is associated with different conditions of vulnerability, has been assessed over time through surveys. However, intersectional stigma due to gender is often not assessed in these studies as they only analyse the data for this variable separately. Therefore, presented here is the first national survey in Spain on the social stigma associated with mental health problems, homelessness and intellectual disability. This proposal considers the importance of gender and intersectional stigma.Methods: A qualitative-quantitative methodology is used by means of a computer assisted web interviewing survey. A gender perspective is proposed both in the development of the questions and in the measurement and analysis of the data. To this end, three versions of the questionnaire are developed: a neutral, a male and a female version.Conclusions: The results are intended to have an impact on social and equality policies for people with mental disorders, homeless people and people with intellectual disabilities.Trial Registration: The study has the approval of the deontological commission of the faculty of psychology and is registered in clinical trials.