The impact of exposure to social explanations for depression on public stigma

Purpose Previous research has found that providing biological causal explanations for depression to the public promotes stigmatising attitudes, but limited evidence enlightens the effects of exposure to social explanations. This study aims to investigate the impact of raising awareness of four different types of social explanations for depression. Design/methodology/approach Participants (n = 211) were randomly assigned to view a fictitious news article containing one of the five causal explanations for depression: life circumstances, violence/abuse, relational challenges, socio-political turmoil and biological factors. Participants were then asked to complete a series of attitude measures. Findings Results indicate that media representations depicting depression as resulting from experiences of violence/abuse may increase the perceived dangerousness of people with depression. Otherwise, the different explanations did not significantly impact participants’ perceptions of dangerousness or desire for social distance from someone with depression. Research limitations/implications The findings have implications for clinicians, public mental health campaigns and news outlets, and suggest that depicting depression as being the result of abuse or violence may exacerbate harmful stereotypes. Originality/value The study is among the first to examine the impact of raising awareness of various social determinants of depression on public attitudes.