The effectiveness of education and contact at decreasing stigma and increasing help seeking surrounding bipolar disorder

Abstract

The current study primarily investigates the effect of education and contact on stigma and help-seeking intentions surrounding bipolar disorder. A large body of research has identified education and contact as effective at decreasing mental health stigma, however research into their ability to decrease stigma and subsequently increase help-seeking surrounding bipolar disorder is limited. The study also aimed to determine whether attitudes predict help-seeking intentions, with past research identifying attitudes as important predictors of help-seeking. Three conditions (education n58, contact n50, control n57) were randomly assigned to n165 (male n74, female n91) participants who were members of the public recruited via a between groups true-experimental online survey design on social media platforms including Linked In, Facebook and Instagram. The study also incorporated a correlational aspect to determine if attitudes predict help-seeking. Two scale questionnaires, the Community Attitudes Towards Mental Illness and The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire assessed attitudes towards MI and help-seeking intentions respectively. Initial hypothesis suggested a decrease in stigma and increase in help-seeking intentions post conditions and that attitudes would predict help-seeking intentions. Findings demonstrated a non-significant decrease in stigma and increase in help-seeking intentions regardless of the condition applied and that attitudes did not predict help-seeking. The results of this study therefore refute general literature on mental health stigma that education and contact reduce stigma and that attitudes predict help-seeking. Future research should incorporate implicit measures of stigma and test interventions of a more educationally diverse population.