Personal and perceived depression stigma in Australian adolescents: magnitude and predictors

Background: Depression stigma has been identified as a barrier to help-seeking in adolescents. This study aimed to examine and compare levels of personal and perceived depression stigma amongst Australian adolescents and to identify predictors of these constructs.

Methods: A total of 1,375 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years (M=14.34) completed the Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) and a number of other sociodemographic and symptom scale measurements as part of the pre-intervention questionnaire of the YouthMood Project.

Results: Levels of perceived stigma (M=20.53, SD=5.06) were significantly higher than levels of personal stigma (M=14.48, SD=5.28). Higher personal stigma was predicted by being male (p<.001), younger (p=.01), living with both parents (p=.02), having no history of depression (p<.001), having no history of parental depression (p<.01), speaking English as a second language (p<.001), lower levels of mastery (p<.01), and higher levels of alcohol consumption (p<.001) and perceived stigma (p<.001). Higher perceived stigma was predicted by being female (p=.02), having a history of parental depression (p=.05), and higher levels of anxiety (p<.001) and personal stigma (p<.001).

Limitations: Participants completed a self-report cross-sectional survey, which does not allow temporal relationships to be drawn.

Conclusions: Stigmatising attitudes are common amongst the adolescent population. The identified predictors of stigma should be considered in the development of future community campaigns to reduce stigma in adolescents.