Stigma and Health最新文献

Recent evidence points to racial and ethnic disparities in drug-related deaths and health conditions. Informed by stigma, intersectionality, intersectional stigma, and fundamental cause theories, we aimed to explore whether intersectional stigma was a fundamental cause of health. We document key events and policies over time and find that when progress is made new mechanisms emerge that negatively affect health outcomes for Black and Hispanic persons. We then focus on intersectional stigma targeting Black and Hispanic persons who use drugs. We document that when a person, or group of people, occupy multiple stigmatized identities the processes of stigmatization and scapegoating are particularly persistent and pernicious since people and groups can be stigmatized and scapegoated on varying intersections. We propose that an intersectional stigma framework allows for a better understanding of observed patterns over time, thereby providing a better guide for policies and interventions designed to reduce disparities. As a framework, intersectional stigma aims to recognize that when different sources of stigma collide, a new set of circumstances is created for those who reside in the intersection. We conclude that intersectional stigma is a fundamental cause of health inequities and provide policy recommendations aimed at dismantling intersectional stigma processes and mitigating the effects of intersectional stigmas to ultimately promote better health outcomes for Black and Hispanic persons who use drugs.

While significant mental illness stigma disparities across race/ethnicity and gender exist, little is known about the efficacy of anti-stigma interventions in reducing these intersectional disparities. We examine the two-year effects of school-based anti-stigma interventions on race/ethnic and gender intersectional stigma disparities among adolescents. An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sixth grade sample (N = 302) self-completed surveys assessing stigma before randomly receiving an anti-stigma curriculum and/or contact intervention versus no intervention. Surveys were also self-completed two-years post-intervention. Stigma measures assessed general mental illness knowledge/attitudes, awareness/action, and social distance. Stigma towards peers with specific mental illnesses were examined using vignettes-two adolescent characters were described as having bipolar (Julia) and social anxiety (David) disorder. Race/ethnicity and gender were cross-classified into six intersectional groups (Latina/o, Non-Latina/o Black, and Non-Latina/o White girls and boys). Linear regressions adjusting for poverty and mental illness familiarity examined anti-stigma intervention effects across intersectional groups in sixth and eighth grade. The school-based anti-stigma intervention reduced intersectional stigma disparities over the two-year study period. While Non-Latino Black boys and Latino boys/girls reported greater disparities in stigma at baseline compared to Non-Latina White girls, these disparities (14 total) were predominantly eliminated in the two-year follow-up following receipt of the curriculum and contact components to just one remaining disparity post-intervention among Non-Latino Black boys. By identifying differences in how school-based anti-stigma interventions reduce mental illness stigma for unique race/ethnic and gender intersectional groups, we can better understand how to shape future anti-stigma interventions for diverse intersectional populations.