Tammy Oladapo

IR 1 10 CC Pd.2
April 30, 2020
1. Metacognitive Review: Reducing overall stigma associated with schizophrenia
a. Articles:
i. Sacca, R., & Ryan, C. (2011). Relationships between Interpersonal
Contact as a Volunteer Companion and Stigma - Rose Sacca, Christopher
Ryan, 2011. ​Australian Psychiatry:​, ​19​(5).
https://doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2011.603325.
ii. Penn, D. L., Kommana, S., Mansfield, M., & Link, B. G. (1999).
Dispelling the stigma of schizophrenia: II. The impact of information on
dangerousness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25(3), 437–446.
iii. Reavley, N. J., Jorm, A. F., & Morgan, A. J. (2016). Beliefs about
dangerousness of people with mental health problems: the role of media
reports and personal exposure to threat or harm. Social Psychiatry and
Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(9), 1257–1264.

Relationships between Interpersonal Dispelling the stigma of schizophrenia: II. Beliefs about dangerousness of people
Contact as a Volunteer Companion The impact of information on with mental health problems
and Stigma (Sacca & Ryan, 2011) dangerousness. (Penn, 1999) (Reavely, 2016)

Focus Examining if being a compeer
volunteer is associated with lower
expressions of stigma
determining whether info describing
relationship between violence and severe
psych. disorders could affect PD** of an
individual w/ schiz. and ppl with SMI in
general
Assessing relationship between PD
and exposure to media reports of
violence or personal experiences of
fear, threat or harm.

Methods Participants are current australian
compeer volunteers (mostly female,
age 50+, australian born). Used SDS
(assessing social avoidance), AS
(emotional affect), DS (perceived
dangerousness), CS (previous
contact), MBS (strength of bonds)
Participants are english speaking
undergrads, mostly 22 y/o, male, 14.4
years education. ​Info sheets:​ 1. No info
(control), 2. General info (dscrptn of
schiz. symptoms), 3. Acute Info (assoc.
Psych. Symptoms +violence), 4.
Comparative Info (​comp. prevalence of
violence w/ other disorders​). ​Vignettes:​ dscrb
male + fem. w/ schiz. ​Assessed previous
contact, PD-Individual+ General (DS)
5220 australians aged 18+. Conducted
through phone call survey interviews.
Used vignette of john, person with
either depression or schizophrenia.
Rated personal and public PD of john
on likert scale. Asked ab media
exposure and where information was
from.

Results Stronger relationship= lower levels of *** depression vignette,:13.3% agreed or

stigma* NI GI AI CI strongly agreed that John is dangerous
Older age=higher MBS while 20.2% agreed that other people
Higher MBS= lower SDS, AS, DS D-G 25.6 ↓= ↑ ↓ would perceive John as dangerous.
No relationship between CS and schizophrenia vignette, 28.3% personal
others D-I 12.3 ↑= ↑ ↓ PD while 56.3% public PD
Contact Longer friendship (contact) = stronger Previous contact→ less PD People who knew person w/ mental
friendship illness less likely to PD.
Stronger bond (↑MBS)= less stigma Ppl w/ negative contact more likely to
(↓SDS, AS, DS) perceive him as dangerous.
Ppl working in the field more aware of
public PD

Information 49.3% participants tertiary educated Info ab prevalence rates ​↓ PD Those with a higher level of education
Lower education levels= Higher MBS Info ab violence ↑PD for general were less likely to agree with the
statement that others would view
‘John’ as dangerous.

Conclusions Stronger compeer friendships= less
stigmatizing beliefs. Quality of contact
makes a difference in attitudes rather
than length of contact
Information addressing relationship
between violent behavior and SMI has
promise in reducing PD
PD for depression not strongly
associated with media reports about
violence or experiences of fear
/threatened/ harmed. Some links were
seen in the case of schizophrenia.

* = symbol used to convey association, not causation throughout chart

**PD represents perceived dangerousness throughout chart
*** D-G: Danger General, D-I: Danger- Individual, NI: No Information, GI: General
Information, AI: Acute Information, CI: Comparative information. Arrows show increase and
decrease relative to NI (baseline). Equal signs represent increase/decrease by <0.5

Annotated Works Cited

Penn, D. L., Kommana, S., Mansfield, M., & Link, B. G. (1999). Dispelling the stigma of
schizophrenia: II. The impact of information on dangerousness. ​Schizophrenia Bulletin​,
25​(3), 437–446. ​https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a033391
The article investigated whether providing information describing the relationship between
violent behavior and schizophrenia could affect participants’ perceptions of the dangerousness of
both a specific person with schizophrenia and persons with severe mental illness in general.
Subjects were questioned regarding previous contact with schizophrenics and provided with
either general, acute, comparative, or no information sheets on schizophrenics. They were also
given a brief vignette of an individual with schizophrenia. People who reported previous contact
with mental illness perceived the individual as less dangerous, while people with less previous
contact perceived them as more dangerous. Compared to no information, providing information
comparing the dangerousness of schizophrenics to that of substance abusers was most effective
in reducing the perceived dangerousness of schizophrenics.
 This study is credible, as it was written by a reputable author and corroborated by other
sources. It is beneficial to research, identifying which types of information are best at reducing
stigma and exploring the hypothesis that more contact reduces stigma.

Reavley, N. J., Jorm, A. F., & Morgan, A. J. (2016). Beliefs about dangerousness of people with
mental health problems: the role of media reports and personal exposure to threat or harm.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology​, ​51​(9), 1257–1264.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1215-6\
This source is an article which aims to assess the associations between the public’s beliefs
about the dangerousness of people with depression or schizophrenia and negative media
exposure regarding violence or personal experiences of fear, threat or harm. Telephone
interviews were conducted, providing respondents with a vignette of John, who had
schizophrenia or depression and asking questions regarding prior contact with mental illness,
perceived dangerousness, and media exposure. For schizophrenia, media reports were associated
with stronger beliefs about dangerousness, while there were no strong associations between
media reports and depression. For both illnesses, participants who had previous contact with
mental illness and higher education levels were less likely to perceive John as dangerous,
proving that contact and education can reduce perceived dangerousness and stigma.
The article is credible, as it was written by several acclaimed authors within the past 5 years.
This is useful, explaining the impact of negative media reports on stigma while affirming the
belief that education and contact can reduce stigma.

Sacca, R., & Ryan, C. (2011). Relationships between Interpersonal Contact as a Volunteer
Companion and Stigma - Rose Sacca, Christopher Ryan, 2011. ​Australian Psychiatry:,​
19​(5). ​https://doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2011.603325​.
The journal article examines the hypothesis that Australian Compeer volunteers show
reduced levels of stigma towards people with mental illness. The study surveyed current compeer
volunteers regarding their attitudes towards the mentally ill using the Social Distance Scale,
Affect Scale and Dangerousness Scale, assessing the strength of their friendship with the Match
Bond Scale, and determining the extent of previous contact using the Contact scale. Longer
friendships were associated with stronger friendships. Volunteers showed lower levels of stigma
towards mental illness regardless of their demographics, however, stronger friendships were
associated with less stigma. This proves that higher quality contact with schizophrenics is most
effective at reducing stigma.
It is a credible source, supported by similar studies that took place in the US. This is very
beneficial to the research being conducted, as it discusses the effects of strong contact with
schizophrenics on reducing stigma in depth.