The Mediating Effect of Mindfulness on the Relationship Between Mental Illness Self-Stigma and General Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Mental illness self-stigma is the devaluation, shame, secrecy, and social withdrawal triggered by applying negative stereotypes about mental illness to oneself. Evidence suggests that this form of self-stigma is associated with increased psychological distress and reduced quality of life. Mindfulness is the process of non-judgmental and accepting attention to experiences in the present moment, which may account for the link between mental illness self-stigma and psychological distress. The proposed cross-sectional survey of a non-clinical college sample aimed to investigate (1) whether mental illness self-stigma is positively associated with psychological distress and (2) whether mindfulness mediates the association between mental illness self-stigma and psychological distress. The results of the study revealed that mental illness self-stigma (and a modified version intended to capture self-stigma for general psychological distress) is positively associated with psychological distress and that mindfulness acts as a partial mediator on this relationship. Mindfulness may partially explain this link by capturing how individuals mentally process the negative associations of mental illness stereotypes.