College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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Item The relationship of internalized stigma with symptoms, social behavior, and emotional responding in schizophrenia(2013) Park, Stephanie Grace; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Internalized stigma refers to the process by which affected individuals endorse stereotypes about mental illness, expect social rejection, apply these stereotypes to themselves, and believe that they are devalued members of society (Corrigan et al., 2005; Corrigan et al., 2006; Ritsher & Phelan, 2004). Studies in clinical populations have found that internalized stigma is associated with a host of negative psychosocial variables, including decreased self-esteem and self-efficacy, hopelessness, demoralization, poor quality of life, and reduced motivation to work towards recovery goals (e.g., Livingston & Boyd, 2010; Ritsher, Otilingam, & Grajales, 2003). However, the relationship between internalized stigma and symptoms in schizophrenia is still unclear. Further, though evidence suggests that individuals with schizophrenia who are high in internalized stigma tend to actively avoid others, have reduced social contact, and maintain insular support networks (e.g., Yanos, Roe, Markus, & Lysaker, 2008), actual behavior and emotional responding during social interactions have not been explored. Thus, the current study examined 50 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder on a battery of self-report measures, clinician-administered interviews, and a social affiliation interaction task to examine the associations between internalized stigma and symptoms, functioning, and emotional responding. Results showed that lower levels of Stigma Resistance were significantly correlated with greater deficits in clinician-rated experiential but not expressive negative symptoms. The present study replicated previous findings of a significant relationship between internalized stigma and other psychiatric symptoms, including depression. Using a multi-method approach to assess functioning, this study found that individuals with higher levels of internalized stigma and lower Stigma Resistance demonstrated impairments in communicative functional capacity and immediate social network relationships. Further, individuals lower in Stigma Resistance were rated as less affiliative and less overall socially skilled during a social affiliation interaction task. However, internalized stigma was not associated with positive or negative affect after the interaction controlling for affect before the task, and there were no differences in willingness to interact or reactions to partner. Importantly, these findings may ultimately contribute to the further development of psychosocial interventions that target internalized stigma.Item A simulated live interaction to examine behavioral correlates of social cognition in individuals with social anhedonia(2010) Park, Stephanie Grace; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure, is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia and is one of the strongest predictors for the development of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. However, much is unknown about the processes that underlie social behavior in individuals with social anhedonia. The current study examined differences in social skillfulness, social functioning, and social cognition between these individuals and controls using a simulated live interaction, self-report measures, and assessments of social cognition. Results showed that, compared to controls, individuals with social anhedonia (1) reported lower levels of social functioning and social support, (2) were rated as having poorer overall social skill and affiliation, but (3) did not differ on three assessments of social cognition. Thus, social cognitive processes do not appear to explain the social deficits seen in individuals with social anhedonia, and future research ought to examine the role of other domains such as emotion or motivation.