article · PLoS ONE
This research assesses the extent of public stigma against people with mental illness in Jimma town, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey evaluated attitudes among 820 randomly selected adult residents using the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale. The survey measured four specific dimensions: authoritarianism, social restrictiveness, benevolence, and community-based mental health ideology. High levels of stigmatising attitudes were observed across all four categories. Statistical analysis identified several socio-demographic factors linked to these views. Employees of private organisations displayed more autocratic and socially restrictive attitudes than housewives. Conversely, single individuals reported lower social restrictiveness scores than married participants, and higher educational attainment was associated with lower overall stigma scores. Individuals lacking personal connections to people with mental illness expressed higher benevolence stigma scores compared to those living near them. The findings indicate widespread negative attitudes, underscoring the necessity for community-level anti-stigma interventions.
Stigma against people with mental illness can lead to social isolation, lower self-esteem, and barriers to employment. By establishing the prevalence and predictors of stigmatising attitudes in a specific urban community, this research provides the baseline evidence needed to inform targeted community interventions, educational campaigns, and public health policies designed to reduce discrimination and support social inclusion.
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BACKGROUND: Stigma towards people with mental illness (PWMI) can result in low self-esteem and isolation and threaten employment. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of public stigma against PWMI and factors associated with it among Jimma town residents. METHODS: A community-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in adult residents of Jimma town. Data were collected among 820 randomly selected residents with the interviewer-administered Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale. Linear regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of stigma against PWMI. RESULT: A total of 444 (54%) of the 820 respondents were females, and the mean (SD) age was 35 (8.5) years. The minimum and maximum possible values on each CAMI subscale were 10 and 50, respectively. The respondents had high scores for a stigmatizing attitude towards PWMI across all the subscales, as indicated by the mean (SD) scores: authoritarianism, 27.17 (4.96); social restrictiveness, 32.41 (4.20); benevolence, 35.34 (4.42); and community-based mental health ideology, 33.95 (5.82). Compared to housewives, private organization employees showed more autocratic and socially restrictive views (std. β = 1.12, P<0.01). Single people had a lower social restrictiveness stigma score than married people (std. β = -0.20, P<0.001), and participants' academic levels correlated inversely with the stigma score (std. β = -0.12, P<0.001). A higher benevolence stigma score was observed among participants with no relationship with PWMI than among those with PWMI in their neighborhood (std. β = 0.08, P< 0.046). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that a negative attitude towards PWMI is widespread. Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies to fight the stigma attached to PWMI at the community level.
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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163103
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