BACKGROUND: Contact has been shown to be one of the most effective methods to reduce mental illness stigma, but prior research on the contact hypothesis has been limited by reliance on retrospective data and forced, laboratory-based contact rather than in community settings.
OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this prospective study was to use a vocational rehabilitation center to test the effect of naturally occurring brief indirect contact with a mentally ill sample on mental illness stigma. We also examined correlational patterns among participants’ perceptions about treatments for mental illness with mental illness stigma.
METHODS: Data were collected at an Italian vocational rehabilitation center using a repeated measures design. A total of 19 participants completed baseline surveys. A subset of 10 participants who also completed post-contact surveys was used to test the contact hypothesis.
RESULTS: Analyses showed that positive affect increased from pre-contact (M = 3.87, SD = 1.10) to post-contact (M = 4.53, SD = 0.89; t(9) = –2.74, p = 0.023), and negative affect decreased from pre-contact (M = 2.83, SD = 0.74) to post-contact (M = 2.23, SD = 0.70; t(9) = 3.25, p = 0.010).
CONCLUSION: Results show preliminary evidence that vocational rehabilitation center-based contact increased positive affect, and decreased negative affect, towards individuals with mental illnesses in community members.
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