Krendl Anne C, Cassidy Brittany S
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2017 Dec;17(6):1084-1097. doi: 10.3758/s13415-017-0534-8.
Nonstigmatized perceivers' initial evaluations of stigmatized individuals have profound consequences for the well-being of those stigmatized individuals. However, the mechanism by which this occurs remains underexplored. Specifically, what beliefs about the stigmatized condition (stigma-related beliefs) shape how nonstigmatized perceivers evaluate and behave toward stigmatized individuals? We examined these questions with respect to depression-related stigmatization because depression is highly stigmatized and nondepressed individuals' behavior (e.g., willingness to recommend treatment) directly relates to removing stigma and increasing well-being. In Study 1, we identified common stigma-related beliefs associated with depression (e.g., not a serious illness, controllable, threatening), and found that only perceptions that depression is a serious condition predicted nondepressed perceivers' willingness to recommend mental health treatment. Moreover, perceivers' beliefs that depression is a distressing condition mediated the relationship between perceived seriousness and treatment recommendations (Study 1). In Study 2, we used fMRI to disentangle the potential processes connecting distress to nondepressed perceivers' self-reported treatment intentions. Heightened activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)-a region widely implicated in evaluating others-and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)-a region widely implicated in regulating negative emotions-emerged when nondepressed perceivers evaluated individuals who were ostensibly depressed. Beliefs that depression is a distressing condition mediated the relationship between dmPFC (but not vlPFC) activity and nondepressed individuals' self-reported treatment recommendations.
未受污名化者对受污名化个体的初始评价对这些受污名化个体的幸福有着深远影响。然而，这种情况发生的机制仍未得到充分探索。具体而言，关于污名化状况的哪些信念（与污名相关的信念）塑造了未受污名化者对受污名化个体的评价和行为方式？我们针对与抑郁症相关的污名化研究了这些问题，因为抑郁症受到高度污名化，且非抑郁症患者的行为（例如推荐治疗的意愿）直接关系到消除污名和增进幸福感。在研究1中，我们确定了与抑郁症相关的常见污名相关信念（例如，不是严重疾病、可控、有威胁），并发现只有认为抑郁症是一种严重状况的认知预测了非抑郁症患者推荐心理健康治疗的意愿。此外，参与者认为抑郁症是一种令人痛苦的状况的信念介导了感知到的严重性与治疗推荐之间的关系（研究1）。在研究2中，我们使用功能磁共振成像来理清将痛苦与非抑郁症患者自我报告的治疗意图联系起来的潜在过程。当非抑郁症患者评估表面上患有抑郁症的个体时，背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC）——一个广泛参与评估他人的区域——和腹外侧前额叶皮层（vlPFC）——一个广泛参与调节负面情绪的区域——的活动增强。认为抑郁症是一种令人痛苦的状况的信念介导了dmPFC（而非vlPFC）活动与非抑郁症个体自我报告的治疗推荐之间的关系。
