Objective: The longstanding mental illness treatment gap has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One reason for this is the self... Show moreObjective: The longstanding mental illness treatment gap has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One reason for this is the self-stigma of mental illness, which has been shown to decrease care-seeking. This study aims to better understand the relationships between self-stigma and care-seeking by identifying novel mediators of this relationship. Method: A sample of 125 individuals with mental health difficulties, obtained from MTurk, completed measures of self-stigma, disclosure, care-seeking. Self-stigma was conceptualized as a distal antecedent to disclosure, and novel proximal antecedents of disclosure (i.e., approach goals, avoidance goals, and the “Why Try?” effect) were unpacked. Hypotheses were tested in steps via path analysis.
Results: We found partial evidence to support our model of self-stigma. Disclosure did not mediate the relationship between self-stigma and care-seeking. Findings regarding proximal antecedents of disclosure were mixed.
Conclusion: Results should be interpreted with caution due to data quality concerns. Additional research is needed to better understand how self-stigma impacts disclosure. This line of inquiry has noteworthy implications for research, policy, and clinical practice. Show less
