Mental Illness: The Stigma Factor

This study: (1) examined if the functioning of graduates from mental health agencies was impacted by the attitudes of workers; (2) compared the attitudes of a sample of mental health professionals of four local agency settings to a survey conducted with the US general population in 2006; (3) examined the relationship between worker attitudes and stated agency policies; (4) examined the relationship between the levels of stigma and the personal characteristics of the mental health professionals. Two standardized instruments were used: for graduates the Independent Living Skills Survey (ILSS), for workers two vignettes from the MacArthur Mental Health Module.