Gefeke, Leah-Marie (2022) An Experimental Study: Reducing Public Stigma Toward Prolonged Grief Disorder by an Education-Contact Intervention. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
In 2018, a diagnosis characterized by severe, persistent and disabling grief, named Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), was included in the International Classification of Diseases 11 (ICD - 11). This has ever since then led to discussions about the medicalizations of grief. Recent studies have shown that people with PGD may experience public stigma. Being stigmatized has severe consequences for people with mental illnesses. Interventions have been successful in reducing public stigma for other disorders. However, no research to date has investigated whether such interventions can be applied to reduce stigma toward people with PGD. Against this background, 464 people from a convenience sample were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The intervention group was asked to watch a short educational video which provides indirect contact to a person with a grief disorder. The reference group received no intervention. Subsequently, both groups were asked to read a vignette describing a person with a grief disorder. It was assessed whether participants in the intervention group had fewer stigmatizing responses than the reference group. This was assessed through participants' attributions assigned to the person in the vignette, emotional reactions, and preferred social distance toward this person. The intervention showed a successful, but limited, reduction of stigma. Notably, participants reported less anger-related emotional reactions and described the individual as less sensitive than the reference group. Public stigma toward PGD can be reduced in the short-term with interventions such as the present one. Nevertheless, these warrant further research on the form of intervention.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Eisma, M.C. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Psychology (CP) [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2022 07:42 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jan 2022 07:42 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/46 |
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