Transgender Individuals Among An Online Adult Baby Diaper Lover Community Sample: An Exploratory Study, Elizabeth Gibson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a lack of literature on the transgender community and individuals with atypical sexual interest which can lead to multiple aspects of stigma based on an individual's gender identity and sexual preferences. The current study used archival data that was collected by researchers at the University of Minnesota in the Program of Human sexuality in 2011. Data was collected using an online survey which sought to survey online communities of individuals who identify as Adult Baby Diaper Lovers (ABDL). In this study, 83 transgender and gender variant individuals were analyzed with five main research questions. We were interested in …

Stigma And Self-Disclosure: Mental Health Professionals’ And Nonprofessionals’ Perceptions Of Therapist Self-Disclosure Of Past Mental Illness, Riley Benko

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates the general public stigmatizes individuals across a number of circumstances, including people with a mental illness. Individuals with a mental illness are more likely to be perceived by members of the general public as responsible for their illness, dangerous, or helpless compared to those with physical illnesses, and such stigma appears higher in rural areas. Compared to members of the general public, mental health professionals and trainees hold more positive perceptions of those with mental illness, viewing them as less dangerous, untrustworthy, and unpredictable. In working with clients, mental health professionals may choose to use self-disclosure as a …

Public Stigma Towards The Presentation Of Self-Diagnosed Mental Illness, Asheley Marie Roberts

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Negative attitudes toward people with mental illnesses leads these individuals to utilize non-traditional avenues of support-seeking, including online venues. Within these venues, particularly the website Tumblr, the practice of self-diagnosing is common. At present, self-diagnosing is understudied, making it difficult to determine if self-diagnosed individuals face public stigma. Thus, one question about this phenomenon is as follows: are people who present themselves online as self-diagnosed stigmatized compared to those who present themselves as professionally diagnosed? The proposed thesis will address this question. Participants will view one of three Tumblr blogs (professionally diagnosed, self-diagnosed, and no diagnosis). It is hypothesized that …

Measuring Contact With Transgender Individuals: An Evaluation Of Factors Associated With Anti-Transgender Prejudice, Oak Reed

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Objectives: Research has suggested that transgender individuals experience high degrees of prejudice and discrimination (e.g., Grant et al., 2010; James et al., 2016). These attitudes affect transgender individuals in multiple domains, such as employment, education, healthcare, housing, public accommodations, and personal relationships (James et al., 2016). Importantly, contact as an intervention strategy has been shown to reduce anti-transgender prejudice quickly and effectively, especially when compared to other prejudice reduction methods (Walch et al., 2012; Case & Stewart, 2013; Tompkins, Sheilds, Hillman, & White, 2015). The aim of the current study was to explore how different types of contact (e.g., …

Perceived Stigma And Barriers To Mental Health Care Among Former Military Service Members, Anna R. Z. Mastapha

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Former United States military members have consistently faced mental health concerns post discharge from the military. Some researchers have argued that the use of mental health services by veterans does not parallel the prevalence and need of such services (Hoge, Castro, Messer, McGurk, Cotting, & Koffman, 2004; Milliken, Auchterlonie, & Hoge, 2007; Vogt, 2011). Reasons why veterans do not access mental health care are varied and broad, however, they tend to be consistent with explanations rooted in the stigma of mental health care, and in the barriers that prevent the use of mental health care. The degree of the impact …

Addressing Mental Health Stigma In Korean Americans: Culturally Adapted Anti-Stigma Psychoeducation, Alice Lim

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Stigma is a major barrier to mental health service utilization and treatment adherence. Effective anti-stigma interventions have been identified using predominantly Caucasian research subjects. Participation in research studies by other racial and ethnic groups has been limited. This pilot study examined the external reliability of Wood and Wahl’s (2006) study, which examined the effectiveness of an anti-stigma program, In Our Own Voice (IOOV), by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) among predominantly Caucasian undergraduate students. An older Korean ESOL group in a Korean community center in New York City (N = 20) served as the participants in this study …

Nonmonogamous Clients’ Experiences Of Identity Disclosure In Therapy, Viktoriya Fuzaylova

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Presented is a qualitative phenomenological investigation of the experiences and perspectives of individuals who self-identify as consensually nonmonogamous regarding disclosure of that identity in psychotherapy. Members of this rarely-studied group (n=10) shared their accounts through an anonymous open-ended online questionnaire. Their prompted autobiographical accounts were analyzed for recurring themes and unique concepts which were drawn together into a model of disclosure of a nonmonogamous identity in a therapeutic setting. This model suggests that while nonmonogamous clients expect prejudice from their therapists, their desire for personal integrity and their culturally informed conviction that openness is necessary for best results, often leads …

Key Considerations For Collaborative School-Based Mental Health Services: Partnering Community Psychology Principles With Systems Of Care Methodology To Address Issues Of Stigma, Brittany L. Foxley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Mental health issues among school-aged children are a growing concern and subject of intervention and prevention studies nationwide. While several implementation and service delivery models exist for school-based mental health services (SBMHS) they are often localized, population or program specific, and do not adequately address the issues related to stigma. Building on Cook and Kilmer's 2012 article integrating community psychology principles and systems of care values, a review of the literature is conducted to identify issues and barriers from stigma in current school-based and mental health service delivery. Key guidelines and specific considerations are presented to address identified limitations and …

Log Kya Kahenge: Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Stigma In The South Asian American Community, Khushboo Jain

Pomona Senior Theses

Current research has independently studied depression, stigma, and coping mechanisms in relation to culture, yet the effects of perceived stigma on the relationship between depression and control coping are heavily understudied. Typically, studies have broadly focused on comparing eastern and western cultures, but have not analyzed how populations with mixed cultural influences experience depression and stigma and further engage in control coping mechanisms. This study thus explores how perceived stigma moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and control coping mechanisms for South Asian Americans. The study hypothesizes that the level of perceived stigma will moderate the relationship between depression and …

Race, Stigma, And The Politics Of Black Girls Hair, Vanessa King

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Historically, black girls and women has been subjected to high public scrutiny that represents their bodies and hair styles as deviant from a European standard of beauty and respectability. Black women have endured many social pressures that have shaped their hair choices in various ways. I will explore assimilation theories of culture and the construction of dominant ideals of worth and respectability within K-12 settings, to document the ways in which black girls' hairstyles have been stigmatized. For this this study, I conducted a media and discourse analysis to document the language that is used to stigmatize black women's hair, …

Evaluating Stigmatizing Attitudes Among Clinicians Toward People With Abdl And Pedophilic Interests, Katlyn Hanson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Because child sexual abuse continues to be covered by mainstream media, the public has become more aware of the paraphilic interest pedophilia. While there is no definitive correlation between an individual with pedophilic interests and offenses against a child, strong public stigmatization toward these individuals remain. Additionally, stigmatizing attitudes have been found toward other paraphilic interests such as fetishes. This is the first study to evaluate and compare clinicians' attitudes toward the paraphilic interest pedophilia and the fetish interest community of Adult Baby/Diaper Lovers (ABDL). Clinicians were randomly assigned to one of three survey conditions assessing their attitudes toward people …

Examining Outcomes And Mechanisms Of The Honest, Open, Proud Intervention In College Students With Mental Illness, Carol Hundert

Master's Theses

Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage involving many changes and transitions (Arnett, 2004). The instability during this time can cause significant distress, making this a period of increased vulnerability for the development of mental illness (Kessler et al., 2007). The rise in the incidence of mental illness on college campuses has caused an increased demand for mental health services (Kadison & Digeronimo, 2004). Unfortunately, college students face many barriers to treatment, including self-stigma (Eisenberg, et al. 2009). Honest, Open, Proud for college students (HOP-C) is a peer-led group-based intervention designed to reduce self- stigma in college students living with mental …

The Stigmatization Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder As Influenced By Gender, Evelina Alex

Senior Independent Study Theses

Children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder are inherently more vulnerable to stigma in ways that children without this diagnosis are. The current study was an experimental study in which attitudes towards children with and without Autism were measured through a vignette along with an attribution questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire, modified from Ling, Mak, & Cheng (2010) was to analyze peoples’ perceptions about the actions of children with and without Autism. The questionnaire examined sympathy, helping behavioral intention, punitive behavioral intention, perceived controllability, and anger. Disability status was defined as the first independent variable, with gender being …

Stigma And Its Reduction: The Role Of Knowledge, Causal Attribution, And Mental Disorder Type, Jesica N. Ferguson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Abstract

Research has shown undeniable evidence of mental illness stigma. Stigma has been shown to reduce treatment seeking and negatively impact emotion and cognition in individuals with mental illness (Livingstone & Boyd, 2010). By discovering the driving forces behind stigma, treatment seeking and quality of life can be improved for individuals with mental illness. This study investigates the effect of knowledge, disorder type, and causal attribution on mental illness stigma. Specifically, participants were assigned to one of two conditions, knowledge or no knowledge. Knowledge conditions included information about a disorder (schizophrenia or depression, depending on disorder condition) such as definition, …

Investigating The Presence And Correlates Of Anti-Thin Bias In Adults, Alexandria Davies

Theses and Dissertations

Weight stigma is associated with negative health outcomes across the BMI continuum. However, few studies have examined weight discrimination targeting people with low body weights. This investigation explored the presence of anti-thin bias, defined as the belief that people with low BMIs have undesirable personality characteristics. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of six vignettes about women that differed by race (White and Black) and weight status (slightly underweight, normal weight, and slightly overweight). Negative personality characteristics were more likely to be ascribed to both underweight and overweight women, compared with normal weight women. Furthermore, participants were significantly more …

Self-Stigma And Weight Loss: The Impact Of Fear Of Being Stigmatized, Jason Lillis, J. G. Thomas, Michael E. Levin, R. R. Wing

Psychology Faculty Publications

The current study sought to examine whether two facets of weight self-stigma (fear of enacted stigma and self-devaluation) were associated with weight change and treatment engagement for 188 individuals participating in a 3-month online weight loss program. Fear of enacted stigma predicted less weight loss 3-months later after controlling for demographics, eating problems, and psychological symptoms. Self-devaluation did not predict weight loss. Neither weight self-stigma variable predicted engagement in the online program. These results add to the literature indicating the negative effects of weight self-stigma while highlighting the central role of fear of being stigmatized by others in this process.

Mental Illness Stigma And Community Integration: Linking Perceived Experiences With Reported Behavior, Lauren L. Gonzales

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between individual and neighborhood characteristics, stigmatizing experiences, and measures of community integration among individuals with mental illness. Surveys were administered to two samples: 608 community member participants and 343 participants with mental health diagnoses. Participants in both samples were recruited from 3 community sites in the New York City metropolitan area: East/Central Harlem in Manhattan, Crown Heights/East Flatbush in Brooklyn, and Yonkers and Mt. Vernon in Southern Westchester. Negative symptoms and perceived level of community microaggressions were strong predictors of community integration for participants with mental illness. Prior contact with mental illness predicted less stigmatizing …

The Experience Of Mental Health Practitioners With Computer Games Designed To Induce Empathy, Jordan Reed

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Though mental health care providers’ primary function is to facilitate improved outcomes for their clients, providers who have stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness can compromise therapeutic outcomes for those living with mental disorders. The therapeutic relationship is the component of care most closely tied to therapeutic outcomes, and this relationship is often jeopardized by provider stigma. Training and mid-career interventions to reduce stigma by enhancing provider empathy for persons with mental illness show varying levels of effectiveness and a majority of these use lecture based instruction. Interventions that engage mental health providers in the experience of persons with mental health …

Impacting Audiences: Responses To Oral Histories Of Persons With Schizophrenia, Tracy Mcdonough, Lynda Crane, Kory Phelps, Sara Vice

The Qualitative Report

The current article focuses on the impact for listeners of oral histories of persons with schizophrenia, presented to 241 audience members. Post-presentation feedback was obtained. Findings from a mixed-methods design combining chi-square analyses with qualitative presentation of emerging themes present evidence to support new learning, emotional impact, and motivational inspiration in listeners.

Sins Of The Father: An Investigation Into Judgments And Processes Involved In Within-Family Tainting, Stephanie Allison Peak

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The present research focused on a real-world event (i.e., the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks) as a basis for gaining insight about the spread of negativity (i.e., “tainting”) from a guilty father to an innocent son. The nature of the relationship between the son and the father was varied experimentally, a manipulation that allowed for investigation into the subjective importance of genetic versus social relationships. Across three experiments, I examined two types of judgments about the son, including responsibility and general evaluation of the target. Responsibility ratings were, on the average, extremely low. Indeed, many participants explicitly attributed no responsibility to …

The Effect Of Educational Modules On Attitudes Towards Disabilities, Hunter W. Greer

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The researchers in this study were interested in the effect of educational modules on student’s ratings of appropriateness and fairness of 10 different accommodations offered at the college level. Researchers were also interested in investigating if these modules would affect individual’s scores on the Social Distance Scale to evaluate levels of stigma towards mental health. Researchers surveyed 150 college students at a large South Eastern University and found that individuals rated accommodations as higher than neutral in fairness and appropriateness overall, but did not find a difference in students who read the modules and students who did not. Researchers also …

The Effect Of Stigma On Intimate Partner Violence Reporting Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, Wesley Eugene Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examined the relation between stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). It was hypothesized that enacted stigma would result in lower reporting of IPV and that the type of IPV would moderate the relationship between enacted stigma and reporting. Using an online survey, we measured IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual violence) and stigma (perceived, enacted, and internalized). Participants (N = 46) were asked if they had ever experienced any of those forms of violence, as well as if they had ever reported the violence through an …

The Effect Of Gender And Veteran Status On The Level Of Perceived Stigma Surrounding Ptsd, Ryan E. Lubock

Master's Theses

This paper explores how gender and veteran status effects the level of stigmatization around Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Participants were randomly assigned to one of four vignette conditions, which were distinguished by gender and veteran status. Participants were then asked to rate how they perceived the individual depicted in the vignette. The researchers analyzed the results by examining how the participants own report of gender, and masculinity, effected how each of the vignettes were judged. This paper addresses the stigma surrounding mental health in general, and more specifically how that stigma affects individuals suffering from PTSD across multiple domains. For …

Mental Health 101: Teaching Students And Campus Leaders How To Help Those In Crisis, Megan B. Kuhnly

Senior Honors Projects

One in four Americans ages 18 and older live with a diagnosable mental health disorder. Due to this high prevalence it is very likely that everyone will encounter someone dealing with a mental health crisis in his or her lifetime. Many college students will experience a crisis during their four years of study due to the high levels of stress and psychological triggers. However, we are often not taught how to help these individuals and the resources available are not well advertised. This lack of education and awareness leads to many students being forced to suffer alone and their mental …

The Social Progression Of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post Vietnam And September 11th Attacks, Ellie Mcdonald

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Social Progression of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Vietnam and September 11^th Attacks is an examination on the infrastructure of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’and of the Department of Defense’s lack of clarity and misinformation of the challenges and effects of mental illness within military ranks. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) after Vietnam. Since then, PTSD has been reevaluate numerous times, to properly define it. This research is a comparative analysis of the misconceptions of PTSD as experienced by Vietnam veterans and the first responders of the September 11^th tragedy. My research charts …

School Climate, Stigma By Association, And Adolescent Psychological Distress, Kathryn D. Ferdon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of a research project that examined whether school climate has a moderating effect on the relation between Stigma-by-Association and psychological distress among adolescents in a rural Midwestern county.

Whose Expertise Is It? Evidence For Autistic Adults As Critical Autism Experts, Kristen Gillespie-Lynch, Steven K. Kapp, Patricia J. Brooks, Jonathan Pickens, Ben Schwartzman

Publications and Research

Autistic and non-autistic adults’ agreement with scientific knowledge about autism, how they define autism, and their endorsement of stigmatizing conceptions of autism has not previously been examined. Using an online survey, we assessed autism knowledge and stigma among 636 adults with varied relationships to autism, including autistic people and nuclear family members. Autistic participants exhibited more scientifically based knowledge than others. They were more likely to describe autism experientially or as a neutral difference, and more often opposed the medical model. Autistic participants and family members reported lower stigma. Greater endorsement of the importance of normalizing autistic people was associated …

Metaphors That Communicate Weight-Based Stigma In Political News: A Case Study Of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, J. Anderson, Y. Zhu, J. Zhuang, J.C. Nelson, M.J. Bresnahan, X. Yan

Communication Studies Publications

News media use metaphors to describe politics (Landau & Keefer, 2014) and obesity (Barry,Brescoll, Brownell, & Schlesinger, 2009). Weight-based stigma is prevalent in U.S. news media (Heuer,McClure, & Puhl, 2011). Media coverage of politicians’ body size may contain metaphors that stigmatizeweight. Metaphors reflect and shape how people think about important issues like politics or obesity(Landau, Sullivan, & Greenberg, 2009; Landau, Meier, & Keefer, 2010; Landau & Keefer, 2014).
Objective – This study uses stigma communication theory (Smith, 2007) to examine stigmatizing metaphors used in media coverage of a United States politician, and candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, New …

Do Education And Personal Relationships Reduce The Stigma Of Those Labelled?, Jessica Rose Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Labels exist within society for many reasons. Labels exist within school systems to benefit students by providing them with the best possible education. This includes providing accommodations when appropriate and guaranteeing the least-restrictive environment for them to grow and succeed. While labels are designed to help students, they sometimes have negative side effects, such as stigma that could result in stigma and subsequently low self-esteem or poor self-image. This study examines 93 students' responses for a connection between relationships with those who are labelled and attitudes and beliefs about those who are labelled educationally, as well as a possible relationship …

The Development Of Mental Illness Stigma: The Role Of Perceived Social Support, Social Proximity, And Help-Seeking Behavior, Emily Kathryn Reed

Online Theses and Dissertations

The current study sought to explore the relationships mental illness stigmatization may have with perceived social support, proximity, and help-seeking behavior. Based on findings from previously conducted studies, hypotheses were formulated in order to further analyze how perceived social support, proximity, and help-seeking behavior may impact an individual's tendency to stigmatize mental illness. 203 Eastern Kentucky students participated in this study to test these hypotheses. These participants took part in an online study that measured their perceived social support based on their family environment, their proximity to those with a mental illness or mental illness in general, their attitudes regarding …