Dominant cultural stigma beliefs and mental health service use: a cross-national comparison

Cross-national comparative research on the impact of stigma beliefs on actual mental health service use in the general population is limited. This article separates dominant cultural stigma beliefs from personal stigma beliefs and estimates the effects of both on different types of service use in a large set of European countries, net of the effect of need. Data are derived from the Eurobarometer 64.4 on mental well-being. Logistic multilevel regression techniques are used. The results reveal that personal stigma beliefs are associated with reduced service use. Moreover, in countries with more cultural stigma beliefs people are less eager to seek professional help for mental health problems in general, and from mental health specialists in particular, irrespective of their personal beliefs. Finally, persons with higher needs are using fewer services from general practitioners and psychiatric nurses/social workers in countries with more cultural stigma beliefs