Date of Award

8-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychological Science

Department

Psychology

First Reader/Committee Chair

Santos, Maria

Abstract

Psychotic patients often endure stigma in their daily lives (Corrigan, 2018). Psychotic patients are understood as individuals who are experiencing psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and disorganized speech (Arciniegas, 2015; Breitborde et al., 2017; Moskowitz et al., 2019) and have been diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria with a psychotic disorder (e.g. Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder). Stigma refers to negative perceptions held about an individual experiencing mental illness. While public stigma refers to the negative views adhered to by members of communities (e.g., sociocultural group, family units) about people with mental illness, self-stigma occurs when people with mental illnesses endorse negative views about their condition and themselves (Corrigan, 2019; Rüsch et al., 2005). Stigmatized views held by psychotic patients and families appear to shape their use of mental health services (Compton, 2005; Gearing et al., 2023).

First Episode Psychosis (FEP) individuals, who are in the early stages of psychotic illness, often abandon treatment prematurely (Casey et al., 2016; Reynolds et al., 2019). Among individuals experiencing FEP, stigma may play a significant role in contributing to poor engagement in mental health services (Chan et al., 2023; Chen et al., 2016; Gearing et al., 2023; Gronholm et al., 2017; Jenkins & Carpenter-Song, 2009). FEP individuals who do not become well-engaged in care shortly after onset tend to experience poorer short-term (e.g., acute positive and negative symptoms, social isolation, delayed remission) and long-term outcomes (e.g., poor quality of life, acute cognitive functioning failure, employment disability) relative to their counterparts who become well engaged in care soon after onset (Pentilla et al., 2014). According to Hayes (2017), poor engagement in mental health services is particularly concerning among Latinx patients given they are comprised of a large proportion of immigrants. Immigrants have been found to experience high rates of psychotic illness and early abandonment of treatment compared to non-immigrants (Anderson et al., 2017; Chen & Vargas-Bustamante, 2011; Gearing et al., 2023; Grieb et al., 2023). Taken together, this suggests that Latinxs are at high-risk of psychosis and of poorly engaging in care when the need for mental health care for psychosis arises. Previous studies underscore the negative effect of higher levels of stigma on patients and caregivers, which contributes to poor participation in treatment and disengagement. (Chan et al., 2023; Clement et al., 2015; Corrigan et al., 2014; Gronholm et al., 2017). Recent findings from Gearing et al. (2023) suggest that Latinx stigma towards serious mental illness influences engagement in mental health services. The current study aims to explore the roles that public and self-stigma play in Latinx patient and family involvement in care. Study findings will increase the scarce literature on stigma and disengagement from care and may inform efforts to improve involvement in care among Latinx individuals and families affected by first episode psychosis.

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