How Does Self-Stigma Influence Functionality in People with Serious Mental Illness? A Multiple Mediation Model of "Why-Try" Effect, Coping Resources, and Personal Recovery Qin, Sang Psychology Mental health "Why-Try" Effect Coping Resources Functionality Personal Recovery Self-Stigma Serious Mental Illness People with serious mental illness (SMI) face self-stigma effects that often undermine their functionality. Functionality herein refers to a person's execution of tasks (i.e., activities) and engagement in life situations (i.e., participation). This study used a path model to examine three mediating factors between self-stigma and functionality: The "why-try" effect, coping resources, and personal recovery. Specifically, the “why-try” effect was viewed as an extension of self-stigma harm that occurred when people suffered from a loss of self-esteem and self-efficacy. Coping resources were conceptualized as individuals’ strengths and the support they had to overcome negative stigma outcomes, particularly stigma stress. Endorsement of personal recovery, namely pursuing self-defined life goals despite illness—had a buffering effect reducing self-stigma. These three mediators were examined simultaneously using an archival dataset. Due to poor internal consistency, coping resources were eventually removed from the model; the subsequent, revised model achieved a good model fit. Results showed that people with SMI experiencing self-stigma were found to have an enhanced "why-try" effect as well as reduced personal recovery, leading to a decline in functionality. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed. Corrigan, Patrick W. 2022 Dissertation application/pdf islandora:1024928 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/islandora:1024928 Illinois Institute of Technology PSYC / Psychology en In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access