Biogenetic explanations and public acceptance of mental illness: Systematic review of population studies

British Journal of Psychiatry

Volumn 199, Issue 5, 2011, Pages 367-372

  Angermeyer, Matthias C ^a,b   Holzinger, Anita ^c   Carta, Mauro G ^b   Schomerus, Georg ^d  

^a Centre for Public Mental Health   (Austria)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CAGLIARI   (Italy)

^c MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA   (Austria)

^d UNIVERSITY OF GREIFSWALD   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ALCOHOLISM; ATTITUDE TO ILLNESS; CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION; DEPRESSION; GUILT; HAZARD; HUMAN; MEDLINE; MENTAL DISEASE; PERCEPTION; PSYCINFO; RESPONSIBILITY; REVIEW; SCHIZOPHRENIA; SOCIAL BELIEF; SOCIAL STIGMA; STEREOTYPY; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW;

ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; DANGEROUS BEHAVIOR; GUILT; HUMANS; MENTAL DISORDERS; POPULATION SURVEILLANCE; PREJUDICE; PUBLIC OPINION; REJECTION (PSYCHOLOGY); STEREOTYPING;

EID: 80655130259     PISSN: 00071250     EISSN: 14721465     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.085563     Document Type: Review

References (69)

1. National Alliance for Mental Illness. Major Depression Fact Sheet. NAMI, 2009 (http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Depression&Template=/ ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=88956).
2. National Alliance for Mental Illness. Understanding Schizophrenia and Recovery. What You Need to Know About this Medical Illness. NAMI, 2008 (http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By-Illness&template=/ ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=67729).
3. Corrigan PW. Mental health stigma as social attribution: implications for research methods and attitude change. Clin Psychol Sci Pract 2000; 7: 48-67.
4. Weiner B. Judgments of Responsibility: A Foundation for a Theory of Social Conduct. Guilford, 1995.
5. Angermeyer MC, Holzinger A, Matschinger H. Mental health literacy and attitude towards people with mental illness: a trend analysis based on population surveys in the eastern part of Germany. Eur Psychiatry 2009; 24: 225-32.
6. Jorm AF, Christensen H, Griffiths KM. Public beliefs about causes and risk factors for mental disorders. Changes in Australia over 8 years. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2005; 40: 764-7. (Pubitemid 41479066)
7. Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H. Causal beliefs and attitudes to people with schizophrenia: trend analysis based on data from two population surveys in Germany. Br J Psychiatry 2005; 186: 331-4. (Pubitemid 40524013)
8. Schnittker J. An uncertain revolution: why the rise of a genetic model of mental illness has not increased tolerance. Soc Sci Med 2008; 67: 1370-81.
9. Corrigan PW, Kuwabara SA, O'Shaughnessy J. The public stigma of mental illness and drug addiction: findings from a stratified random sample. J Soc Work 2009; 9: 139-47.
10. Angermeyer MC, Dietrich S. Public beliefs about and attitudes toward people with mental illness: a review of population studies. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2006; 113: 163-79. (Pubitemid 43340871)
11. Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Systematic Reviews. CRD's Guidance for Undertaking Reviews in Health-care. CRD, University of York, 2009.
12. Higgins JPT, Green S (eds). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.0.2. Cochrane Collaboration, 2009.
13. Cumming E, Cumming J. Closed Ranks - An Experiment in Mental Health Education. Harvard University Press, 1957.
14. Maclean U. Community attitudes to mental illness in Edinburgh. Br J Prev Soc Med 1969; 23: 45-52.
15. Fuchs M, Lamnek S, Tretter F. Psychisch Kranke und Psychiatrie im Meinungsbild der Münchner. Institute of Sociology, Ludwig-Maximilian- University, Munich, 1989.
16. Kemali D, Maj M, Veltro F, Crepet P, Lobrace S. Survey on the Italian public's opinions about mental disorders and psychiatric care [in Italian: Sondaggio sulle opinioni degli italiani nei riguardi dei malati di mente e della situazione dell'assistenza psichiatrica]. Riv Sper Freniatr 1989; 113: 1301-51.
17. Crisp AH, Gelder MG, Goddard E, Meltzer HI. Stigmatization of people with mental illnesses: a follow-up study within the Changing Minds campaign of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. World Psychiatry 2005; 4: 106-13.
18. Crisp AH, Gelder MG, Rix S, Meltzer HI, Rowlands OJ. Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses. Br J Psychiatry 2000; 177: 4-7. (Pubitemid 30450656)
19. Link BG, Phelan JC, Bresnahan M, Stueve A, Pescosolido BA. Public conceptions of mental illness: labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. Am J Public Health 1999; 89: 1328-33. (Pubitemid 29404554)
20. Corrigan PW, Watson AC. The stigma of psychiatric disorders and the gender, ethnicity, and education of the perceiver. Community Ment Health J 2007; 43: 439-58. (Pubitemid 47497705)
21. Jorm AF, Oh E. Desire for social distance from people with mental disorders. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2009; 43: 183-200.
22. Dietrich S, Beck M, Bujantugs B, Kenzine D, Matschinger H, Angermeyer MC. The relationship between public causal beliefs and social distance toward mentally ill people. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2004; 38: 348-54. (Pubitemid 38765237)
23. Angermeyer MC, Breier P, Dietrich S, Kenzine D, Matschinger H. Public attitudes toward psychiatric treatment: an international comparison. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2005; 40: 855-64. (Pubitemid 41662413)
24. Grausgruber A, Meise U, Katschnig H, Schony W, Fleischhacker WW. Patterns of social distance towards people suffering from schizophrenia in Austria: a comparison between the general public, relatives and mental health staff. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2007; 115: 310-9. (Pubitemid 46425743)
25. Bag B, Yilmaz S, Kirpinar I. Factors influencing social distance from people with schizophrenia. Int J Clin Pract 2006; 60: 289-94. (Pubitemid 43337608)
26. Angermeyer MC, Beck M, Matschinger H. Determinants of the public's preference for social distance from people with schizophrenia. Can J Psychiatry 2003; 48: 663-8. (Pubitemid 37522538)
27. Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H. The stereotype of schizophrenia and its impact on the discrimination against people with schizophrenia: results from a representative survey in Germany. Schizophr Bull 2004; 30: 1049-61. (Pubitemid 40469537)
28. Kermode M, Bowen K, Arole S, Pathare S, Jorm AF. Attitudes to people with mental disorders: a mental health literacy survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2009; 44: 1087-96.
29. Martin JK, Pescosolido BA, Tuch SA. Of fear and loathing: the role of 'disturbing behavior,' labels, and causal attributions in shaping public attitudes toward people with mental illness. J Health Soc Behav 2000; 41: 208-23.
30. Van 't Veer JT, Kraan HF, Drosseart SH, Modde JM. Determinants that shape public attitudes towards the mentally ill: a Dutch public study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2006; 41: 310-7.
31. Martin JK, Pescosolido BA, Olafsdottir S, McLeod JD. The construction of fear: Americans' preferences for social distance from children and adolescents with mental health problems. J Health Soc Behav 2007; 48: 50-67.
32. European Commission. Mental Well-being. Special Eurobarometer 248/Wave 64.4. EC, 2006 (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph-information/documents/ebs-248-en. pdf).
33. Yeap R, Low WY. Mental health knowledge, attitude and help-seeking tendency: a Malaysian context. Singapore Med J 2009; 50: 1169-76.
34. Griffiths KM, Nakane Y, Christensen H, Yoshioka K, Jorm AF, Nakane H. Stigma in response to mental disorders: a comparison of Australia and Japan. BMC Psychiatry 2006; 6: 21.
35. Cook TM, Wang J. Descriptive epidemiology of stigma against depression in a general population sample in Alberta. BMC Psychiatry 2010; 10: 29.
36. Glendinning R, Buchanan T, Rose N. Well? What Do You Think? A National Scottish Survey of Public Attitudes to Mental Health, Well Being and Mental Health Problems. Scottish Government Social Research, 2002.
37. Braunholtz S, Davidson S, King S. Well? What Do You Think? (2004): The Second National Scottish Survey of Public Attitudes to Mental Health, Mental Wellbeing and Mental Health Problems. Scottish Government Social Research, 2004.
38. Braunholtz S, Davidson S, Myant K, O'Connor R. Well? What Do You Think? (2006): The Third National Scottish Survey of Public Attitudes to Mental Health, Mental Wellbeing and Mental Health Problems. Scottish Government Social Research, 2007.
39. Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H. Public beliefs about schizophrenia and depression: similarities and differences. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2003; 38: 526-34. (Pubitemid 37160831)
40. Peluso ET, Blay SL. Public stigma in relation to individuals with depression. J Affect Disord 2009; 115: 201-6.
41. Peluso ET, Blay SL. Public perception of alcohol dependence. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 2008; 30: 19-24. (Pubitemid 351507994)
42. Phelan JC. Geneticization of deviant behavior and consequences for stigma: the case of mental illness. J Health Soc Behav 2005; 46: 307-22. (Pubitemid 43469077)
43. Schomerus G, Holzinger A, Matschinger H, Lucht M, Angermeyer MC. Public attitudes towards alcohol dependence [in German: Einstellung der Bevölkerung zu Alkoholkranken]. Psychiatr Prax 2010; 37: 111-8.
44. Phelan JC. Genetic bases of mental illness - a cure for stigma? Trends Neurosci 2002; 25: 430-1. (Pubitemid 34804468)
45. Read J, Haslam N, Sayce L, Davies E. Prejudice and schizophrenia: a review of the 'mental illness is an illness like any other' approach. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2006; 114: 303-18. (Pubitemid 44521298)
46. Dietrich S, Matschinger H, Angermeyer MC. The relationship between biogenetic causal explanations and social distance toward people with mental disorders: results from a population survey in Germany. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2006; 52: 166-74.
47. Jorm AF, Griffiths KM. The public's stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders: how important are biomedical conceptualizations? Acta Psychiatr Scand 2008; 118: 315-21.
48. Read J, Law A. The relationship of causal beliefs and contact with users of mental health services to attitudes to the 'mentally ill'. Int J Soc Psychiatry 1999; 45: 216-29. (Pubitemid 29452922)
49. Walker I, Read J. The differential effectiveness of psychosocial and biogenetic causal explanations in reducing negative attitudes toward 'mental illness'. Psychiatry 2002; 65: 313-25. (Pubitemid 36083180)
50. Lam D, Salkovskis P, Warwick H. An experimental investigation of the impact of biological versus psychological explanations of the cause of 'mental illness'. J Ment Health 2005; 14: 453-64. (Pubitemid 41495345)
51. Bennett L, Thirlaway K, Murray AJ. The stigmatising implications of presenting schizophrenia as a genetic disease. J Genet Couns 2008; 17: 550-9.
52. Haslam N. Psychiatric categories as natural kinds: essentialist thinking about mental disorder. Soc Res 2000; 67: 1031-58. (Pubitemid 33256276)
53. Fusar-Poli P, Broome M, Cortesi M. Can neuroimaging reduce social stigma in schizophrenia? Med Hypotheses 2007; 69: 457. (Pubitemid 46818684)
54. Laegsgaard MM, Stamp AS, Hall EO, Mors O. The perceived and predicted implications of psychiatric genetic knowledge among persons with multiple cases of depression in the family. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2010; 122: 470-80.
55. Schreiber R, Hartrick G. Keeping it together: how women use the biomedical explanatory model to manage the stigma of depression. Issues Ment Health Nurs 2002; 23: 91-105. (Pubitemid 33692375)
56. Meiser B, Mitchell P, McGirr H, Van Herten M, Schofield P. Implications of genetic risk information in families with a high density of bipolar disorder: an exploratory study. Soc Sci Med 2005; 60: 109-18. (Pubitemid 39346295)
57. Meiser B, Mitchell PB, Kasparian NA, Strong K, Simpson JM, Mireskandari S, et al. Attitudes towards childbearing, causal attributions for bipolar disorder and psychological distress: a study of families with multiple cases of bipolar disorder. Psychol Med 2007; 37: 1601-11. (Pubitemid 47606845)
58. Nieuwsma JA, Pepper CM. How etiological explanations for depression impact perceptions of stigma, treatment effectiveness, and controllability of depression. J Ment Health; 19: 52-61.
59. Corrigan PW, Markowitz FE, Watson AC. Structural levels of mental illness stigma and discrimination. Schizophr Bull 2004; 30: 481-91. (Pubitemid 39625692)
60. Schomerus G, Matschinger H, Angermeyer MC. Preferences of the public regarding cutbacks in expenditure for patient care: are there indications of discrimination against those with mental disorders? Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2006; 41: 369-77. (Pubitemid 43676252)
61. Wrigley S, Jackson H, Judd F, Komiti A. Role of stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking from a general practitioner for mental health problems in a rural town. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2005; 39: 514-21. (Pubitemid 40932630)
62. Kuppin S, Carpiano RM. Public conceptions of serious mental illness and substance abuse, their causes and treatments: findings from the 1996 General Social Survey. Am J Public Health 2006; 96: 1766-71. (Pubitemid 44497732)
63. Phelan JC, Yang LH, Cruz-Rojas R. Effects of attributing serious mental illnesses to genetic causes on orientations to treatment. Psychiatr Serv 2006; 57: 382-7. (Pubitemid 43364190)
64. Olafsdottir S, Pescosolido BA. Drawing the line: the cultural cartography of utilization recommendations for mental health problems. J Health Soc Behav 2009; 50: 228-44.
65. Jorm AF, Christensen H, Griffiths KM. The public's ability to recognize mental disorders and their beliefs about treatment: changes in Australia over 8 years. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2006; 40: 36-41. (Pubitemid 43337438)
66. Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H. Public attitudes towards psychotropic drugs: have there been any changes in recent years? Pharmacopsychiatry 2004; 37: 152-6. (Pubitemid 38916422)
67. Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H. Have there been any changes in the public's attitudes towards psychiatric treatment? Results from representative population surveys in Germany in the years 1990 and 2001. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2005; 111: 68-73.
68. Lam DC, Salkovskis PM. An experimental investigation of the impact of biological and psychological causal explanations on anxious and depressed patients' perception of a person with panic disorder. Behav Res Ther 2007; 45: 405-11. (Pubitemid 44827995)
69. Lincoln TM, Arens E, Berger C, Rief W. Can antistigma campaigns be improved? A test of the impact of biogenetic vs psychosocial causal explanations on implicit and explicit attitudes to schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 2008; 34: 984-94.