Stigma Towards Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Examination of Stigma Related to Community Settings and Service Seeking in a Rural Area

Abstract

Stigma related to mental health issues can pose a barrier to help seeking for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The goals of this study are threefold: 1) to examine and compare levels of stigma towards children with EPB and their families specific to certain community settings, 2) to examine the factor structure of an existing measure of stigma related to service seeking, and 3) to examine the relationship between child and family characteristics, mental health stigma related to community settings, and stigma related to service seeking in order to identify significant predictors of parents’ perceived stigma related to seeking service for a child with EBP. Results 1) indicate that community-setting-specific stigma is present at significantly different levels, 2) confirm the factor structure of an existing measure of stigma related to service seeking, and 3) identify significant predictors of service-seeking stigma.