Integrating Māori and Pacific attitudes towards mental illness into health campaigns may result in a less judgemental Aotearoa New Zealand, a University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study has found.
Published in Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, the study analysed the relationship between ethnicity and stigmatising attitudes towards people with mental illness in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, the study examined more than 58,000 participants' 'ratings of warmth' towards those with mental illness.
Issac Jamieson
Lead author Issac Jamieson, PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, says they found Māori and Pacific participants had lower negative attitudes, while Asian and European participants had higher ones.
Women reported lower stigmatising attitudes than men while those with a history of either anxiety or depression reported lower levels. No significant findings were found with age, education, or socioeconomic status.
"Mental illness stigma is pervasive throughout society and significantly impacts the livelihood of those with mental illness.
"Negative stereotypes not only have a damaging impact on people with mental illness, but they lead to separation and discrimination – research has found those with mental illness are more likely to experience inferior healthcare, unemployment and housing-related discrimination," he says.
Mr Jamieson says the findings emphasise cultural perspectives are central to understanding stigma, particularly in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand, and finding ways to address it.
"We must acknowledge the variance with how different cultures perceive mental health conditions. Better acknowledgement and integration of cultural perspectives will allow us to be better placed to reduce the stigma associated with mental health conditions."
Lower stigmatising attitudes amongst Māori and Pacific participants could be explained by their collective worldview and holistic sense of wellbeing. Mental health, in this context, is just one aspect of a person, and they may focus on strengths in other domains that contribute to the flourishing of the community.
However, the relationship between ethnicity and mental health stigma is complex and Mr Jamieson says while different cultures may perceive and understand mental health conditions in different ways, it is not necessarily problematic.
"Every community has strengths that can help reduce stigma. Integrating cultural perspectives of mental health into mental health campaigns may help to relate to certain communities better and in doing so, reduce stigma."
He also acknowledges stigma is multifaceted and this research only looked at one aspect of it.
"Further research into the different components of stigma is essential to understanding it and designing effective interventions to reduce it and improve the livelihood of those with mental health conditions."
Ethnicity and Mental Illness Stigma in Aotearoa New Zealand
Issac Jamieson, Taylor Winter, Ririwai Fox, Aaron Hapuku, Edmond Fehoko, Andre Mason, Chris Sibley, Damian Scarf
Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online
https://doi.org/10.1002/kot2.70045
