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Study on Mental Health-related Stigma

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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05639855
Recruitment Status : Recruiting
First Posted : December 6, 2022
Last Update Posted : December 6, 2022
Sponsor:
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Nereida Canosa Rodríguez, Universidade da Coruña

Brief Summary:

Mental disorders are currently among the main causes of disability worldwide. For this reason, various national and international organisations include the promotion of mental health among their strategic actions, with special emphasis on the fight against stigma. Evidence shows that stigma has a negative impact on the process of recovery and participation of people with mental disorders.

The general aim of this study is to find out about the attitudes of university students at the University of A Coruña towards people with mental disorders and specifically to intervene with students of the Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy to assess whether taking part in a Mental Health Literacy Programme changes these attitudes.


Condition or disease Intervention/treatment Phase
Mental Health Disorder Other: Mental Health Literacy Programme Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing and evaluating anti-stigma plans in the field of mental health. However, stigmatising, coercive or paternalistic attitudes persist in society and have a negative impact on the recovery process of people with mental illness.

The Mental Health Spain Confederation proposes tackling stigma through intersectional mental health literacy interventions that incorporate the gender perspective and are focused on the needs identified by people with mental disorders.

The New Mental Health Strategy of the National Health System (2021-2026) establishes the need to involve people and their families, as well as the different social agents in the fight against stigma, especially social and health professionals, as well as the media and educational personnel. The aim of this study is to understand the nature of stigma towards people with mental disorders. In order to do so, it is necessary to take into consideration the experiences and experiences of the people themselves in order to develop plans to promote mental health from a participatory and comprehensive perspective. Likewise, it is considered relevant to know the perceptions of future professionals from different areas of knowledge (students of the University of A Coruña), evaluating their attitudes and beliefs regarding mental health. Finally, the aim is to evaluate the impact of incorporating a specific module on mental health and stigmatisation. a specific module on mental health and stigma in the university curriculum of the students of the Occupational Therapy Degree.

This research has the following objectives: (1) find out the perception of people with mental disorders in relation to the social stigma of citizens and Health Science professionals; (2) find out how university students perceive people with mental health problems, and (3) evaluate the impact of incorporating a specific module on mental health and stigma in the university curriculum, specifically in the Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy.

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Study Type : Interventional  (Clinical Trial)
Estimated Enrollment : 740 participants
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Sequential Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary Purpose: Other
Official Title: Study on Mental Health-related Stigma: Attitudes and Values of University Students Towards People With Mental Disorders
Actual Study Start Date : September 5, 2021
Estimated Primary Completion Date : June 30, 2023
Estimated Study Completion Date : June 30, 2023


Arm Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Third year students of the Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy
Third-year students of the Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy will receive training on a specific module on mental health and stigma in the university curriculum.
Other: Mental Health Literacy Programme
Mental Health Literacy Program. This program is part of the training of third-year students of the occupational therapy degree at the University of A Coruña. We will follow a mixed method following a sequential explanatory design. The quantitative part corresponds to a quasi-experimental study, where a comparison will be made between the phase before and after the students take the program. The qualitative part will comprise a phenomenological study to collect the knowledge acquired by the students after taking the program.

No Intervention: Students of University of A Coruña
The students of the University of A Coruña will take part in an online survey to find out the attitudes and beliefs of future professionals from different areas of knowledge regarding mental health.
No Intervention: People with mental health disorder
Users of a Psychosocial and Labor Rehabilitation Centers in the A Coruña Health Care Area will take part in interviews to find out their experiences regarding the attributions made towards them by citizens and health professionals.



Primary Outcome Measures :
  1. Changes on the measurement of the students of third-year of occupational therapy bachelor's degree attitudes and beliefs toward people with mental disorders [ Time Frame: One month pre-intervention and one month post-intervention ]
    It is composed of 40 items, rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The scale comprises 4 factors: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restraint, and mental health ideology in the community. Each factor contains 10 statements concerning opinions about the way people with mental disorder are treated. Five of the 10 items are expressed in the positive and the other 5 are worded in the negative. The score for each subscale results from adding the positive items together with the negative items, which are transformed into positive values, with the total score being the sum of all of them. The higher the score, the greater the agreement. The sum of each factor is analyzed with the mean and standard deviation.

  2. Changes on the measurement of stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental health disorders in students of third-year of occupational therapy bachelor's degree [ Time Frame: One month pre-intervention and one month post-intervention ]
    It is a Likert-type scale with 27 items on the situation posed, grouped into 9 factors: responsibility, pity, anger, dangerousness, fear, help, coercion, segregation and avoidance. I sum the items of each factor, obtaining a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 27.

  3. Acquired knowledge in students of third-year of occupational therapy bachelor's degree who participated in the intervention programme [ Time Frame: within 1 month after the intervention ]
    The interview is the most used data collection technique in qualitative studies. In this study, a semi-structured interview will be used because it is flexible and dynamic. It's a beginning interview to know the knowledge acquired by the students.


Secondary Outcome Measures :
  1. Measurement of the Students of University of A Coruña attitudes and beliefs toward people with mental disorders [ Time Frame: within 1 month after the intervention ]
    It is composed of 40 items, rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The scale comprises 4 factors: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restraint and mental health ideology in the community. Each factor contains 10 statements concerning opinions about the way people with mental disorder are treated. Five of the 10 items are expressed in the positive and the other 5 are worded in the negative. The score for each subscale results from adding the positive items together with the negative items, which are transformed into positive values, with the total score being the sum of all of them.

  2. Measurement of stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental health disorders of the Students of University of A Coruña [ Time Frame: within 1 month after the intervention ]
    It is a Likert-type scale with 27 items on the situation posed, grouped into 9 factors: responsibility, pity, anger, dangerousness, fear, help, coercion, segregation and avoidance. I sum the items of each factor, obtaining a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 27.

  3. Individual-interviews [ Time Frame: within 1 month after the intervention ]
    The interviews were about the experiences of people with mental disorders in relation to stigma. The following questions composed the interview: the definition of stigma, the influence of society on people with a mental health disorder, experiences about the barriers detected in daily life, and the behavior of the health providers that work with people with a mental health disorder.



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Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years to 65 Years   (Adult, Older Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:   All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria Group I:

  • Be graduated at Occupational Therapy Degree at the University of A Coruña

Exclusion Criteria Group I:

  • Have difficulties in understanding and/or communication
  • Not being enrolled in the Mental Health module of the Degree in Occupational Therapy

Inclusion Criteria Group II:

  • Student in the University of A Coruña

Exclusion Criteria Group II:

  • Have difficulties in understanding and/or communication

Inclusion Criteria Group III:

  • Have a mental disorder [according to the Diagnostic Manual Diagnostic Manual]
  • Be a user of the Psychosocial and Labor Rehabilitation Centers of the Health Area of A Coruña

Exclusion Criteria Group III:

  • Have difficulties in understanding and/or communication
  • Be in a situation of legal incapacity.

Information from the National Library of Medicine

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT05639855


Contacts
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Contact: Nereida Canosa Domínguez, Master 881015967 ext 881015967 nereida.canosa@udc.es
Contact: Betania Groba González, PhD 881015870 ext 5870 b.groba@udc.es

Locations
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Spain
Nereida Canosa Domínguez Recruiting
A Coruña, Spain, 15071
Contact: Nereida Canosa Domínguez    981 16 70 00 ext 5906    nereida.canosa@udc.es   
Sponsors and Collaborators
Nereida Canosa Rodríguez
Investigators
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Principal Investigator: Nereida Canosa Domínguez, Master Universidade da Coruña
Publications of Results:

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Responsible Party: Nereida Canosa Rodríguez, Professor, Universidade da Coruña
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05639855    
Other Study ID Numbers: 2021/028
First Posted: December 6, 2022    Key Record Dates
Last Update Posted: December 6, 2022
Last Verified: December 2022
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
Plan to Share IPD: No
Plan Description: The IPD sharing plan contains the collection of the variables of the present study.

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Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No
Keywords provided by Nereida Canosa Rodríguez, Universidade da Coruña:
mental health disorder
stigma
university students
occupational therapy
alphabetisation
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
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Mental Disorders