Stigmatization of ‘psychiatric label’ by medical and non-medical students

Backround: Stigmatization of psychiatric patients is present both in the general population and among healthcare professionals. Aim: To determine the attitudes and behaviour of medical students towards a person who goes to a psychiatrist, before and after psychiatric rotation, and to compare those attitudes between medical and non-medical students. Methods: The study included 525 medical students (second and sixth year of studies) and 154 students of law. The study instrument was a three-part self-reported questionnaire (socio-demographic data, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a vignette depicting a young, mentally healthy person). The experimental intervention consisted of ascribing a ‘psychiatric label’ to only one set of vignettes. All the vignettes (with or without the ‘psychiatric label’) were followed by 14 statements addressing the acceptance of a person described by vignette, as judged by social distance (four-point Likert scale). Results: Higher tendency to stigmatize was found in medical students in the final year, after psychiatric rotation ( Z U = −3.12, p = .002), particularly in a closer relationship ( Z U = −2.67, p = .007) between a student and a hypothetical person who goes to a psychiatrist. The non-medical students had a similar tendency to stigmatize as medical students before psychiatric rotation ( Z U = −0.03, p = .975). Neither gender, nor the size of student’s place of origin or average academic mark was associated with the tendency to stigmatize in our sample. However, student’s elf-esteem was lower in those with a tendency to stigmatize more in a distant relationship (I = −0.157, p = .005). Conclusions: Psychiatric education can either reinforce stigmatization or reduce it. Therefore, detailed analyses of educational domains that reinforce stigma will be the starting point for anti-stigma action.