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Changes in attitudes, intended behaviour, and mental health literacy in the Swedish population 2009–2014 : an evaluation of a national antistigma programme

Hansson, L. LU ; Stjernswärd, S. LU orcid and Svensson, B. LU (2016) In Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 134. p.71-79
Abstract

Objective: Public stigma of mental illness is still a major problem where numerous population studies during the last decade have mainly shown no improvements. A Swedish national antistigma campaign has been running 2010–2014. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in public stigma during this period as compared to baseline in 2009. Methods: Yearly population surveys were made between 2009 and 2014 including assessments of mental health literacy, attitudes, and intended future behaviour. Two surveys were made, one including a nationally representative sample and one including a representative sample from three original campaign regions. Multiple regression analyses, also including age, gender, education, and familiarity with... (More)

Objective: Public stigma of mental illness is still a major problem where numerous population studies during the last decade have mainly shown no improvements. A Swedish national antistigma campaign has been running 2010–2014. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in public stigma during this period as compared to baseline in 2009. Methods: Yearly population surveys were made between 2009 and 2014 including assessments of mental health literacy, attitudes, and intended future behaviour. Two surveys were made, one including a nationally representative sample and one including a representative sample from three original campaign regions. Multiple regression analyses, also including age, gender, education, and familiarity with mental illness were made to investigate yearly changes in public stigma compared to baseline. Results: Mental health literacy improved significantly in the campaign regions between 2009 and 2014, as did intended future behaviour. Attitudes toward mental illness also improved significantly. Improvements were also shown in the national population surveys, but the time pattern of these compared to that of the original campaign regions indicated that these changes took place mainly after the campaign had been extended to a further five Swedish regions. Conclusion: The results of our surveys suggest that a campaign primarily based on social contact theory and involving people with lived experience of mental illness may, even in a rather short-term perspective, have a significant positive impact on mental health literacy, attitudes, and intentions of social contact with people with mental illness.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
anti-stigma programme, attitudes, discrimination, stigma
in
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
volume
134
pages
9 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:84978472633
  • pmid:27426648
  • wos:000381687200009
ISSN
0001-690X
DOI
10.1111/acps.12609
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e9d34ba6-d712-4ad0-b805-0664867e38d1
date added to LUP
2016-08-01 12:18:20
date last changed
2024-02-19 01:03:52
@article{e9d34ba6-d712-4ad0-b805-0664867e38d1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective: Public stigma of mental illness is still a major problem where numerous population studies during the last decade have mainly shown no improvements. A Swedish national antistigma campaign has been running 2010–2014. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in public stigma during this period as compared to baseline in 2009. Methods: Yearly population surveys were made between 2009 and 2014 including assessments of mental health literacy, attitudes, and intended future behaviour. Two surveys were made, one including a nationally representative sample and one including a representative sample from three original campaign regions. Multiple regression analyses, also including age, gender, education, and familiarity with mental illness were made to investigate yearly changes in public stigma compared to baseline. Results: Mental health literacy improved significantly in the campaign regions between 2009 and 2014, as did intended future behaviour. Attitudes toward mental illness also improved significantly. Improvements were also shown in the national population surveys, but the time pattern of these compared to that of the original campaign regions indicated that these changes took place mainly after the campaign had been extended to a further five Swedish regions. Conclusion: The results of our surveys suggest that a campaign primarily based on social contact theory and involving people with lived experience of mental illness may, even in a rather short-term perspective, have a significant positive impact on mental health literacy, attitudes, and intentions of social contact with people with mental illness.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hansson, L. and Stjernswärd, S. and Svensson, B.}},
  issn         = {{0001-690X}},
  keywords     = {{anti-stigma programme; attitudes; discrimination; stigma}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  pages        = {{71--79}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica}},
  title        = {{Changes in attitudes, intended behaviour, and mental health literacy in the Swedish population 2009–2014 : an evaluation of a national antistigma programme}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acps.12609}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/acps.12609}},
  volume       = {{134}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}