ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2023
Is the self-reporting of mental health problems sensitive to public stigma towards mental illness? A comparison of time trends across English regions (2009-19).
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Secular trends in mental health problems among young people in Norway: a review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of literature examining the application of a social model of health and wellbeing.European journal of public health · 2024Pooled it
- Low-dose titrated amitriptyline as second-line treatment for adults with irritable bowel syndrome in primary care: the ATLANTIS RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2024Trial
- First-incidence of common mental disorders now and 12 years ago: Results from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Studies (NEMESIS).European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Change over time in perceived schoolwork pressure and associations with emotional problems among 11-16-year-olds: A repeat cross-sectional study in Wales, UK.JCPP advances · 2025Article
- Mind the Gap: A Retrospective Study of Discrepancies in Self-Reported and Administrative Database-Identified Mental Health Issues in Slovenia.Zdravstveno varstvo · 2025Article
- Peer Relationships Are a Direct Cause of the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis: Interpretable Machine Learning Analysis of 2 Large Cohort Studies.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Family History of Psychiatric Disorders as a Risk Factor for Post-Stroke Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- Prevalence of mental disorders among Norwegian college and university students: a population-based cross-sectional analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Article
- A Mental Health Pandemic? Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Young People's Mental Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Association of sociocultural stressors with bipolar disorder onset in Puerto Rican youth growing up as members of a minoritized ethnic group: results from the Boricua Youth Longitudinal Study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Article
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Abstract
purposeThe prevalence of mental health problems has rapidly increased over time. The extent to which this captures changes in self-reporting due to decreasing stigma is unclear. We explore this by comparing time trends in mental health and stigma-related indicators across English regions.
methodsWe produced annual estimates of self-reported mental disorders (SRMDs) across waves of the Health Survey for England (2009-18, n = 78,226) and three stigma-related indicators (knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviour) across waves of the Attitudes Towards Mental Illness survey (2009-19, n = 17,287). Differences in trends were tested across nine Government Office Regions using linear models, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, and social class.
resultsIn 2009, SRMDs did not vary by region (p = 0.916), whereas stigma-related indicators did (p < 0.001), with London having the highest level of stigma and the North East having lowest level of stigma. Between 2009 and 2018, the prevalence of SRMDs increased from 4.3 to 9.1%. SRMDs increased and stigma-related indicators improved at different rates across regions over time (SRMDs p = 0.024; stigma-related indicators p < 0.001). London reported the lowest increase in SRMDs (+ 0.3 percentage point per year) yet among the largest improvements in attitudes and intended behaviour across regions.
conclusionsImprovements in attitudes towards mental illness did not mirror changes in self-reported mental health problems across English regions over the past decade. The findings do not support the argument that changes in public stigma, at least when defined at this regional scale, have been driving the increase in self-reported mental health indicators in recent years.
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