engleski

Stigma in central European print media: Analysis of the stigmatizing potential of the key-words.

Even in the era of the internet, printed media are still among the most frequently identified sources of mental health information. Many studies have shown that this information is frequently negative and contributes to stigmatization of people with mental illness. This international comparative study describes stigmatizing potential of the keywords in the articles about mental health/illness in three central European countries. The study sample comprised all articles with pre-defined keywords pertaining to the topic of mental health/illness (N=433) identified during five week-long periods in 2007 chosen from the six most widely read newspapers and magazines in Croatia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. In assessing the global impression of the article the items were evaluated according to the presence of positive/negative statements and coded either as stigmatizing, de-stigmatizing, mixed or neutral. Each article was coded by three separate in-country coders. Association of the most frequent keywords and global impression of the article is presented as stigmatizing potential of the keyword. In stigmatizing articles keywords ”schizophrenia”, “psychosis” and “psychiatric facility” are found most often, while “mental illness”, “depression”, “psychologist”, “mania”, “anorexia” and “psychotherapy” are found least often. In de-stigmatizing articles keywords “psychologist”, “mania”, “narcomaniac”, “anorexia” and “psychotherapy” are found most often, while “psychosis” is found least often. Our findings confirm the results of previous research that persons with psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia are stigmatized, but psychiatric institution as a term is stigmatized as well. Articles containing keywords “psychotherapy” and “psychologist” have a positive message stimulating potential patients to seek professional help and receive therapy.

mental illness; stigma; print media; sensitivity analysis

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