Associative Stigma Among Mental Health Professionals: Organizational-Level Effects on Self-Stigma and Service Utilization Among Individuals With Mental Illness in Long-Term Care Institutions

According to symbolic interactionism, individuals who have close relationships with stigmatized persons may experience similar stigma, known as associative stigma. Mental health professionals (MHPs) may experience associative stigma due to the negative societal perceptions of individuals with mental illness (MI), which can adversely affect not only the MIs' self-stigma but also their utilization of mental health services. To examine whether these dynamics are observed among MHPs and MIs in long-term care mental institutions (LCMIs), I conducted a Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis using data from 808 MHPs and 1,164 MIs across 50 LCMIs. The results indicated that higher levels of associative stigma among MHPs at the organizational level were significantly associated with increased self-stigma and reduced service utilization among MIs. Based on these findings, I discuss practical implications for reducing associative stigma among MHPs.