Using implicit measures to evaluate mental health stigma and attitudes to help-seeking

Aims: The paper introduces and describes the
use of implicit measures of attitude in two separate studies.  The aim of the first study was to explore
children's and adolescents' (10 to 16 years) stigmatizing responses towards
hypothetical peers with either ADHD or depression.  The aim of the second was to investigate whether a brief
on-line intervention could change young adults' (18 to 25 years) attitudes
towards help-seeking for mental health problems. Methods: Implicit measures,
such as the Implicit Associations Test (IAT) do
not require research participants to overtly express their beliefs.  They are used where there is a high
risk that research participants will offer socially desirable responses about
stereotypes and prejudices. In the first study, an adapted IAT, in conjunction
with questionnaires, was used to measure attitudes towards a vignette
describing a peer who had ADHD or depression.  In the second study, the Single Category IAT was used to
measure young adults' attitudes towards professional help-seeking for mental
health problems. Results: The findings showed that young people were more stigmatising
towards peers with mental health problems and treatment seeking on implicit
compared to explicit measures. The patterns of responses between the measures highlights
the value of using implicit measures to enhance our understanding of such
phenomena.  Conclusions: Implicit
measures may prove to be a useful tool for researchers who are interested in
stigma associated with mental health problems in young people and their
treatment.  Lessons learned from
the use of implicit measures in these studies will be highlighted.