Detailled Information

Corker E, Henderson RC, Lempp H, Brown JS. Internalised stigma in people with rheumatoid arthritis: a cross sectional study to establish the psychometric properties of the ISMI-RA. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2016;17:244. Published 2016 Jun 2. doi:10.1186/s12891-016-1089-5

This study aimed to compare levels of self stigma, self esteem and empowerment between people diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and people diagnosed with RA to establish whether self stigma, and specifically endorsement of negative stereotypes, is associated with self esteem and empowerment across these two groups.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale in a sample of patients with mental illness. 

Review of the ISMI on its different versions.

Internalised stigma is defined as the awareness, legitimisation and application of societal stereotypes of the particular stigmatised diagnosis to the self, and may result in decreased self-esteem and self-efficacy. The Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale is commonly utilized to measure this construct. Five subscales (alienation, stereotype endorsement, perceived discrimination, social withdrawal and stigma resistance) with a total of 29 items are rated by participants on a four point Likert scale. For RA, the stigma resistance subscale was removed from the analysis, as it has been found to be a separate construct to internalized stigma.

Each item of the ISMI asks the respondents to express, using a 4-point Likert scale, how much they agree with the description. Add the item scores together and then divide by the total number of answered items.