Interventions for Reduction of Stigma in People with Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

People with schizophrenia experienced a higher level of internalized stigma compared to people with other mental disorders. Internalized stigma could lead to pervasive negative effects in their life. Although internalized stigma interventions have shown some benefits, there is a dearth of interventions and meanwhile a lack of evidence as to their effectiveness in people with schizophrenia. This study aims at examining the effectiveness of internalized stigma reduction in people with schizophrenia through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Two electronic databases were searched. Studies were included if they (1) involved community or hospital-based interventions on internalized stigma, (2) included participants who were given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and (3) were empirical and quantitative in nature. Thirteen articles were selected for extensive review and seven for meta-analysis. A variety of psychosocial interventions were utilized with the majority employing psychoeducation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), social skills training, hope instillation program, and against stigma program. The internalized stigma was used to examine the efficacy of the intervention. Seven studies involving a total of 799 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Assuming a random effects model, the meta-analysis revealed an improvement in internalized stigma favoring the internalized stigma intervention (95% confidence interval [0.492; 1754], P = 0.001), but the heterogeneity among individual effect sizes was substantial (I 2 = 93.20%). Most internalized stigma reduction programs appear to be effective. This systematic review was unable to show light in indicating the most effective intervention, however, demonstrates evidence that psychoeducation is promising. Large-scale randomized control trials and multicomponents of intervention are required to further develop the evidence based of more targeted interventions.