DENVER — Mental health disability identity relies on factors such as health prioritization, willingness for disclosure and need for integration, a speaker said at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America annual conference.
“The degree to which people identify with a mental health diagnosis is an understudied section of the field. We are seeking to fill that gap,” Emily Badillo-Winard, BA, of the department of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, said in a presentation.
Badillo-Winard and research partner Kari Eddington, PhD, sought to determine the conceptual basis of and gain psychometric data regarding the degree to which people identify with any mental health disability.
The study included 255 participants (mean age, 28.63 years), who self-reported a mental health diagnosis via the Mental Health-Disability Identity and Behavior Scale, Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale. Three main mental health concerns among participants were anxiety (89%), depression (77%) and concentration issues (49%).
