Correlates and moderators of stigma resistance among people with severe mental illness

Research on factors associated with stigma resistance among people with severe mental illness remains relatively scant. This study aimed to (1) replicate previous findings linking stigma resistance with variables associated with recovery; (2) explore associations between stigma resistance and coping strategies and psychiatric symptoms; (3) compare these associations among individuals with different levels of self-stigma; and (4) examine whether race, age and education moderate these relationships. Analyses of a sample (n = 353) and sub-sample (n = 177) of persons with severe mental illness examined associations between stigma resistance and self-stigma, functional and clinical outcomes, and the moderating impact of age, race, and education on these relationships. Stigma resistance was significantly negatively associated with self-stigma and positively associated with social functioning, self-esteem, problem-centered coping, and symptoms of hostility-excitement, but not other types of symptoms. Race significantly moderated the relationship between stigma resistance and self-stigma, age significantly moderated the relationships between hopelessness and both stigma resistance and self-stigma, and education significantly moderated the relationship between stigma resistance and social functioning. Findings suggest that social circumstances impact the benefit of stigma resistance in complex ways; future work should aim to understand how these experiences impact stigma resistance to inform intervention development.