Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Patton Garriott

Second Advisor

Apryl Alexander

Third Advisor

Lisa M. Brownstone

Fourth Advisor

Lindsey L. Monteith

Fifth Advisor

Jennifer Gafford

Keywords

Barriers, Ethnicity, Race, Stigma, Veterans, Women veterans

Abstract

The stigma associated with mental illness can serve as a barrier for receiving treatment. Veterans may avoid seeking care due to stigma-related negative beliefs about one’s self or others. Research suggests that the stigma of mental illness can adversely impact service utilization. Although studies have shown that racial and ethnic minoritized individuals are more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, no studies have examined how mental illness stigma differs across racial groups among women veterans. The objective of this secondary analysis is to examine how internalized mental health stigma and perceived barriers to access to care related to mental health stigma may differ across race and ethnicity in women veterans. The sample included 412 women veterans who participated in an anonymous national survey. Participants completed measures of internalized mental illness stigma (Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale Brief Version [ISMI-10]) and barriers to accessing mental health care (Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation Treatment Stigma Subscale [BACE-TSS]). A multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to examine if there were groups differences based on race/ethnicity in internalized mental health stigma and barriers to access to care due to mental health stigma while covarying for age; no significant differences were found. The implications of the present findings and future directions are discussed.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Christe’An D. Iglesias

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

33 pgs

Discipline

Statistics

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