Public endorsement of social explanations for mental illness: an investigation of demographic predictors and links to stigma

Previous research has indicated that biological attributions for mental illness are linked to stigma attitudes, but the implications of social attributions have received less empirical attention. This study aimed to explore the extent to which four distinct types of social attributions, along with biological attributions, relate to stigma, and how attribution tendencies vary by sociodemographic characteristics. Participants (N = 500) over the age of 18 from the UK and Ireland were recruited to an online repeated-measures survey, where they rated how important they believed different causal factors were in the aetiology of depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, and anorexia nervosa. Participants also completed demographic and attitudinal measures, including their desire for social distance from people with each mental illness. The importance people placed on the attributions varied by gender, prior knowledge of mental illness, and the type of mental illness. Violence/abuse was rated as the most important cause for depression, PTSD, and anorexia nervosa, while heredity/biological factors were rated as most important for schizophrenia. Overall, higher attributions to sociopolitical turmoil were associated with lower stigma. Attributions to heredity/biological factors were associated with greater stigma. There was no association between stigma and attributions to life circumstances, violence/abuse or relational challenges. Results indicate that explanations that emphasise experiences of sociopolitical turmoil as determinants may promote more tolerant attitudes towards people with mental illness. The findings hold implications for clinical practice and could aid in predicting the degree of stigma people with mental health conditions may face. Mental health practitioners, commentators, and policy-makers should be mindful of the potential negative implications of certain aetiological explanations.