A scoping review of self-stigma of mental illness among medical students
TL;DR
The authors call upon researchers to expand the study of self-stigma among medical students in order to promote student, physician, and patient well-being.
Abstract
Medical students experience higher levels of psychological distress compared to their age-equivalent peers. Yet, many medical students do not seek help for mental health concerns which occur commonly during their rigorous training. Self-stigma of mental illness may be an important contributor to this discrepancy because of its connection to feelings of shame, low self-esteem, and reduced self-efficacy. However, little is known about mental illness self-stigma among medical students worldwide. This scoping review aims to identify what is known about this construct in existing literature and describe gaps to direct future research. The authors conducted a scoping review by searching four databases (CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed) on November 13, 2023, and conducting a follow-up search using Google Scholar on August 20, 2024, to identify studies quantitatively measuring mental illness self-stigma among medical students published in English in peer-reviewed journals. They developed search strings for each database. The authors identified relevant studies by screening abstracts and full-text articles according to collaboratively developed criteria. 3,567 records were identified at the screening stage, resulting in 210 full-text articles reviewed for eligibility. Three articles were ultimately retained as meeting criteria for the scoping review. The authors call upon researchers to expand the study of self-stigma among medical students in order to promote student, physician, and patient well-being.