Purpose: This study aimed to meta-analysis the level of internalised stigma experienced by individuals with psychosis worldwide, and the impact of cultural differences, economic status of the studied regions and duration of illness on their levels of internalised stigma. Clinical and individual level factors associated with internalised stigma and stigma resistance were also systematically reviewed.
Methods: A systematic search of keywords on two scholarly databases were conducted. The individualism index of the countries or regions where the studies were conducted was retrieved from Hofstede's updated measurement of individualism. Economic status of regions was categorised based on their per capita gross national income. Meta-analysis and meta-regression were conducted using the 'metafor' package in R. Factors associated with internalised stigma and stigma resistance were also systematically consolidated.
Results: Seventy-three articles were included in the meta-analysis and the pooled score of both internalised stigma and stigma resistance of individuals with psychosis were within the mild range (2.20 and 2.44, respectively). The meta-regression analysis found high collectivism culture is significantly related to a higher level of internalised stigma. Economic status was not significant. Thirty-five articles were included in the systematic review and clinical, psychological, psychosocial variables, cognition and sociodemographic factors were found to be associated with internalised stigma.
Conclusion: Internalised stigma in psychosis is ubiquitous worldwide and high collectivism culture may be related with high internalised stigma. With the presence of multiple individual factors related to internalised stigma, intervention programmes to reduce internalised stigma should consider focussing on both macro- and micro-level factors.
Keywords: Psychosis; individualism-collectivism; internalised stigma; stigma resistance.