The Stigma and Self-Stigma Scales for attitudes to mental health problems: Psychometric properties and its relationship to mental health problems and absenteeism

Alys E Docksey; Nicola S Gray; Helen B Davies; Nicola Simkiss; Robert J Snowden

The Stigma and Self-Stigma Scales for attitudes to mental health problems: Psychometric properties and its relationship to mental health problems and absenteeism

Health Psychol Res. 2022 Jun 28;10(3):35630. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Alys E Docksey¹, Nicola S Gray¹, Helen B Davies², Nicola Simkiss¹, Robert J Snowden³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Swansea University.
² Senior Human Resources Business, Driver and Vehicles Licensing Agency.
³ School of Psychology, Cardiff University.

PMID: 35774907
PMCID: PMC9239391

Abstract

The Stigma and Self-Stigma scales (SASS) measure multiple aspects of stigmatic beliefs about mental health problems, including cognitive aspects of stigma towards others (Stigma to Others) and emotional stigma toward others (Social Distance), anticipated stigma by others, self-stigma, avoidant coping strategies, and help-seeking intentions, alongside an index of social desirability. The properties of the SASS were investigated by employees of a large UK government organization. With minor exceptions, each of the SASS scales had strong psychometric properties, good internal reliability, and test-retest reliability. Social Distance, Anticipated Stigma, Self-Stigma, and Avoidant Coping were all strongly associated with a lack of help-seeking for mental health problems. Similarly, Stigma to Others, Self-Stigma, and Avoidant Coping were all associated with current mental health problems. Finally, absenteeism from the workplace was found to be negatively related to Stigma to Others, and positively related to Avoidant Coping and Anticipated Stigma. In conclusion, the SASS was able to measure several different forms of stigma about mental health simultaneously in people both with and without a history of mental health problems. The SASS can be used to monitor changes in mental health attitudes outcomes following intervention programs to investigate stigmatic attitudes to mental health problems across different samples.

Keywords: Mental health literacy; absenteeism; mental health; stigma; workplace.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS-2) studentship for AED. We are also grateful to the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS-2) for providing funding for AD’s Research Masters’s qualification. KESS-2 is a pan-Walehigher-level skills initiative led by Bangor University on behalf of the Higher Education sector in Wales. It is partly-funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) convergence program for West Wales and the Valleys. The work was further supported by grant from the Driver and Vehicles Licensing Agency (UK).