Using randomized methodologies, we study a common community HIV/AIDS program that seeks to promote HIV testing by improving knowledge and reducing stigmatizing attitudes. Contrary expectations, the has substantial negative effect on rates. We provide evidence of likely mechanisms behind program’s effect: it inadvertently increased misinformation about transmission methods, worsened HIV-related ...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the level of weight-related stigmatizing experiences and binge eating in overweight adults in southern Taiwan. METHODS This study design was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey with convenience sample. A total of 141 questionnaires were analyzed. RESULTS The study showed that 97.9% participants had at least on...

Recent research has established a link between disgust sensitivity and stigmatizing reactions to various groups, including obese individuals. However, previous research has overlooked disgust's multiple evolved functions. Here, we investigated whether the link between disgust sensitivity and obesity stigma is specific to pathogen disgust, or whether sexual disgust and moral disgust--two separat...

BACKGROUND Negative attitudes towards people with mental illness can be attributed to stigma. The objective of this study was to determine the attitudes of medical students towards mental illness by comparing those who have had contact with mental patients and those who have not. This study also assesses to what extent knowledge about mental illness can affect the students' attitude. METHODS ...

Public health campaigns targeting childhood obesity have been criticized for being unnecessarily stigmatizing. Some images used in these campaigns depict children with obesity in a sad and stereotyped manner. Children who are victimized because of their weight suffer a spectrum of psychological and physical health problems, and bias against people who have excess weight emerges in children as y...

OBJECTIVE To investigate obesity prevention support in the German general public and to assess determinants of general prevention support as well as support of specific prevention measures. METHODS This study was a cross-sectional analysis of a telephone based representative German study (3,003 subjects (52.8% women, mean age 51.9, s.d.  = 18.0, range 18-97 years). Likert scale-based question...

BACKGROUND Voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) is one of the key strategies in the HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes in Ethiopia. However, utilization of this service among adults is very low. The aim of the present study was to investigate factors associated with VCT utilization among adult men since men are less likely than women to be offered and accept routine HIV testing. ...

BACKGROUND Family members of people with mental disorders can contribute to stigmatization. Because of the lack of adequate information and resources, and the fatigue resulting from daily care, the family can reinforce social exclusion of the mentally ill and disbelieve recovery. Furthermore, family members may also suffer from self-stigma, experiencing a decrease in their own self-esteem and s...

Purpose: Our goal was to determine the effectiveness of a brief online intervention designed to reduce stigma-relevant attitudes toward mentally ill individuals. We examined whether the experience of completing a Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT) measuring attitudes toward people with mental illnesses alters explicit stigma in two studies. Methods: In Study 1, participants completed the BI...