Using Popular Media to Reduce New College Students’ Mental Illness Stigma

In response to evidence that mental illness stigma is especially prevalent among college students, an innovative seminar was developed that mixed popular films and other media with lectures and class discussions to reduce new college students’ stigma. Multivariate analyses showed students in the seminar had more negative attitudes toward people with schizophrenia at the beginning of the seminar but possessed significantly more positive attitudes at the end when compared to a control group. Most notably, seminar students showed greater improvements in their feelings of fear, perceived dangerousness, and desire for segregation from people with schizophrenia than control group students. Implications for college students and anti-stigma programming are discussed.