Exploration of Effects of a Cognitive Schema Account on the Stigma of Schizophrenia: A Study in a French University Sample

International audienceAmongst people with psychiatric disorders, people experiencing schizophrenia are among those who are victims of high levels of stigmatization. A research effort is necessary to identify new strategies that may help reduce the public stigma of schizophrenia. While educational strategies using cognitive accounts, and in particular Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS), have shown promising results in the context of depression, they had never been evaluated in the context of schizophrenia. The present study compared the effect on public stigma of three different educational strategies, based on cognitive distortions, biogenetics, and Early Maladaptive Schemas. A total of 378 students were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Three experimental groups were presented with a vignette which introduced one out of three different etiological accounts of schizophrenia (Cognitive distortions, Early Maladaptive Schemas, or Biogenetics). The fourth group was presented with a text unrelated to schizophrenia. The participants completed questionnaires which measured their attitudes, empathic concern and social distance towards people with schizophrenia, before and after reading the text. The intervention using the Early Maladaptive Schemas etiology account for schizophrenia was the only one that led to a significant decrease in public stigma. The latter effect was driven mainly by an increase in the level of empathic concern towards people experiencing schizophrenia. Given that similar results have been observed for depression, and that the role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in many psychiatric disorders has been demonstrated, studying the effects of EMS explanations for other stigmatized disorders may be a promising research prospect for reducing the public stigma of psychiatric disorders