Psychiatry Clerkship Exposure and Mental Illness Stigma in Medical Students: Public Stigma Endorsement and Anticipated Stigma with Concealment/Avoidance

Aim: Stigma related to mental illness remains a major barrier to help-seeking and equitable care. Among medical students, stigma is clinically relevant because it may influence both future patient management and students’ own willingness to seek professional support. This study examined two complementary stigma domains, public stigma endorsement and anticipated stigma with concealment/avoidance, and their association with psychiatry clerkship exposure.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 354 undergraduate medical students at Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine. Psychiatry clerkship exposure was defined as pre-clerkship (Years 1–4) versus clerkship (Years 5–6). Stigma-related constructs were measured using a 29-item researcher-developed questionnaire organized a priori into Public Stigma Endorsement (PSE) and Anticipated Stigma with Concealment/Avoidance (ASA). Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.884 for PSE; 0.900 for ASA). Group differences were evaluated using appropriate univariable tests. Separate multiple linear regression models were fitted for PSE and ASA, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, smoking, psychiatric service use, contact with mental illness (self/family/social environment), family history of stigma, and stigma awareness/knowledge.Results: PSE scores did not differ by clerkship exposure in univariable analyses and were not independently associated with clerkship status in adjusted models. Male sex was an independent correlate of higher PSE. In contrast, ASA was higher among clerkship students and remained independently associated with clerkship exposure after adjustment (B = 2.75, 95% CI 0.44–5.05, p = 0.020). Middle socioeconomic status (vs low) was also associated with higher ASA (B = 3.37, 95% CI 0.67–6.07, p = 0.014). Model fit was significant for PSE and borderline for ASA.Conclusion: Psychiatry clerkship exposure was not associated with reduced public stigma endorsement but was linked to higher anticipated stigma and concealment/avoidance. These findings underscore the need for educational strategies that explicitly target distinct stigma dimensions, including self-referential anticipated stigma that may impede help-seeking among medical trainees.