This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.The purpose of this research is to ascertain whether psychophysiological methods of assessment might prove effective as a means of assessing stigma towards mental illness.
Aims : (1) We will assess whether participants will rate themselves as having more discomfort when imagining interaction with an individual who is labeled as mentally ill; (2) We will measure physiological reactions as participants are exposed to slides of targets labeled as mentally ill as well as slides of targets who are not so labeled; (3) We will determine if psychophysiological reactivity during imaginal interactions predict conventional global self-reported measures of stigma towards mental illness. Research Design and Method: The research design is a 2 (unlabeled/labeled) X 2 (male/female) quasi-experimental repeated measures design. Three hundred male and female, minority and non-minority students from Howard University's general psychology classes will be administered self-report surveys of global attitudes towards mental illnes. Approximately two weeks later they will be exposed to four slides of African American males females between the ages of 20-30. Two of the slides will be labeled 'Has Schizophrenia' and two will be unlabeled. Students will listen to an audiotape of biographical vignettes and imagine completing an imaginative task with each target. Autonomic arousal will be measured, and participants will verbally report any level of discomfort experienced.
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