The study involves an experimental procedure which addresses the influence of body shape (i.e. obesity), on contact between the doctor and patient. The theoretical part includes studying and describing the current literature relevant to the topic, defining concepts of obesity, prejudice, and weight stigma. The theory concludes with a critical reflection of the current level of knowledge. For the experimental part, participants are randomly assigned across several experimental conditions, which consist of video views an expert advice from the doctor. Conditions vary gender and weight physician, as well as the content of the information the doctor gives to the potential patient. The main research aims are to provide an evidence on how is the weight stigma influenced by various factors, especially gender of HCPs, the information they are providing, their weight status, and other relevant sociodemographic characteristics on the side of a participant. Data are analysed with multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance. The study results are consistent with previous findings in literature. Keywords: Weight stigma, obesity, prejudice, discrimination

Introduktion: Idag lever 38 miljoner människor med HIV. HIV är ett retrovirus som utmärker sig genom att det lagras i kroppens arvsmassa, vilket gör att infektionen inte kan läka ut utan blir kronisk. Idag finns tillgång till effektiv behandling som gör nivåerna av viruset så låga att personerna inte utgör någon risk att smitta. Trots detta finns det en tydlig stigmatisering i samhället som HIV-positiva personer upplever. Det finns även beskrivet att vårdpersonal har bristande kunskap med oro kring HIV.   Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka hur HIV-positiva personer upplever bemötandet från hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. Metod: För att genomföra arbetet gjordes en allmän litteraturöversikt där 12 studier av kvalitativ design inkluderades. Studierna kvalitetsgranskades och innehållet analyserades med skapandet av kategorier och teman.  Huvudresultat: Resultatet visade på upplevelsen av både positivt och negativt bemötande. Det negativa bemötandet beskrevs mer, och specialistvården upplevdes ha bättre bemötande. Tre teman identifierades. Temat känslor som beskriver upplevelsen av skuld hos HIV-positiva, samt rädsla som upplevs finnas hos hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. Temat agerande beskriver HIV-positivas upplevelser av agerande från vårdpersonal, vilka var bristande konfidentialitet, påverkad tillgång till vård och irrelevanta frågor. Det sista temat kompetens handlar om upplevd kunskap och tillgång till information. Slutsats: Deltagarna upplevde att bemötandet hade förbättrats över tid men att stigmatisering och diskriminering fortfarande fanns inom sjukvården. Specialistvården ansågs ha ett bättre bemötande än den övriga sjukvården. Kunskapen om HIV behöver förbättras inom hälso- och sjukvården för att HIV-positiva personer i mindre grad ska uppleva stigmatisering och diskriminering. / Introduction: Today, 38 million people live with HIV. HIV is a retrovirus that is stored in the genome which means that the infection becomes chronic. There is access to effective treatment that makes levels of the virus so low that people are not at risk of infecting others. However, there is a clear stigma in society that HIV-positive people experience. It is also described that healthcare professionals have concerns and a lack of knowledge about HIV. The aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how HIV-positive people experience the treatment from health care professionals. Method: A general literature review was conducted. This included 12 scientific studies of qualitative design, which quality were reviewed and the content analyzed and divided in categories and themes. Results: Both positive and negative experiences were expressed. The negative treatment was described more, and the specialist care was perceived to have better treatment. Three themes were identified. The theme “emotions” describes experiences of guilt in HIV-positive people and fear among healthcare professionals. The theme “action” describes the experiences of actions from healthcare professionals, as lack of confidentiality, the influence on access to care and irrelevant questions. The last theme “competence” describes perceived knowledge and information, often perceived as lacking. Conclusion: The treatment was expressed to be better now than before, but stigma and discrimination still exist. The specialist care was considered to have a better treatment than other types of care. Knowledge about HIV needs to improve for people to not experience such discrimination and stigmatization.

Introduction: Structural stigma, or stigma at a society or policy level, has a negative impact on the mental and physical health of sexual and gender minorities (SGMs). In particular, political leaders and the policies they enact can limit the resources and safety of SGM. Following the 2016 presidential election, there was fear of an increase in structural stigma in the USA. However, research on the specifics of anticipated structural stigma is lacking. Methods: Using data from 187 participants who completed an online study conducted from 2016 to 2017, we used inductive thematic coding to examine anticipated structural stigma. Results: We found four themes: (1) anticipated negative consequences of specific anti-SGM political figures, (2) concerns about the loss of existing SGM rights, (3) fear of new anti-SGM policies, and (4) fears of vulnerability related to limited existing protections. Conclusion: We discuss how these themes tie into each other, map them onto existing structural stigma work, and use laws and policies that have been passed or proposed in the past 4 years to describe how these anticipated stigmas have become enacted.

No description available.

No description available.

Sexual minorities must deal daily with their stigmatized identities. Specifically, depression and anxiety as well as psychological distress and self-stigma are common among people with stigmatized identities. Self-compassion has been linked to enhanced psychological well-being and less negative feelings toward the self. The aim of this study was to investigate selfcompassion as a potential buffer of the effects of sexual minority related rejection experiences on self-perceptions of stigma and psychological symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to a self-compassion induction group versus 1 of 3 control groups (self-esteem only induction; expressive writing condition; true control) to examine whether self-compassion can be induced to reduce self-stigma, negative mood, and fear of negative evaluation. Results did not support hypotheses; analyses revealed nonsignificant effects for the self-compassion induction. However, results revealed a significant main effect for trait self-compassion predicting outcomes of decreased self-stigma, fear of negative evaluation, and negative mood, and increased positive mood.

Objective: People living with HIV (PLWH) commonly report sleep disturbances which are associated with long-term health consequences, including disease progression. PLWH also experience internalised stigma as a result of their HIV status, which can be associated with increased loneliness and depression. Little attention focuses on the impact of these factors on sleep. Therefore, we examined whether internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly related to poorer sleep quality through higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Design: 181 PLWH from across the United States completed an online survey. Main Study Measures: Internalised HIV-stigma was assessed using the HIV-Stigma Scale, loneliness was assessed using the UCLA-Loneliness Scale-Short Form, depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Index, and Sleep Quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: Internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly associated with poorer global sleep quality and daytime sleep dysfunction through both loneliness and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: PLWH who experience HIV-related stigma may experience greater feelings of loneliness, which are related to increased depressive symptoms and poorer sleep quality. Interventions focused on improving sleep in PLWH should focus on multiple factors that influence sleep, including psychosocial factors such as stigma, social isolation and depressive symptoms.

Sexual minorities, or those who do not identify as straight, experience stigma that has been associated with a number of health issues and decreased quality of life. The current study expands on previous explanations of the relationship between stigma experienced by sexual minorities and quality of life by examining self-compassion and authenticity as potential mediators. We proposed and examined a mediation model in which self-compassion and authenticity would explain the relationship between stigma and quality of life, using data from a sample of 213 sexual minorities. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that there was no direct relationship between public stigma and quality of life but that public stigma and quality of life were indirectly related through internalized stigma, authenticity, and self-compassion. These findings have implications for the understanding of sexual minority experience of stigma and highlight potential points of intervention for increasing quality of life among sexual minority individuals.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly stigmatized condition, often associated with negative stereotypes such as being morally weak, incompetent, unpredictable, and aggressive. People with AUD are at risk of experiencing self-stigma, a social-cognitive experience in which people think others hold negative stereotypes about them, expect to be treated unfairly, and/or believe that negative stereotypes are personally accurate. Women in the criminal justice system with AUD in particular are at risk of experiencing self-stigma due to intersecting sources of disadvantage. Given that self-stigma can lead to treatment avoidance and dropout, it is important to understand risk factors for self-stigma to inform prevention and intervention efforts in the justice system. Incarcerated women with AUD (=185) completed measures of alcohol self-stigma as well as a variety of theoretically relevant risk factors including sociodemographics, baseline levels of stress and depression, and alcohol-related factors (i.e., length of drinking history, frequency/amount of use, consequences of use, physician advice to stop, belief that legal involvement is related to alcohol use, alcohol-related charges, self-efficacy to quit, readiness for treatment, pressures to enter treatment, factors that influence treatment) and other stigmatized conditions (drug use, exchanging sex, and homelessness). Results showed that experiencing more consequences of alcohol use, pressures to enter treatment, and perceived stress were associated with internalized stigma and anticipated/enacted stigma. This study begins to identify which incarcerated women with AUD are most at risk of experiencing self-stigma that may interfere with alcohol treatment.

Bakgrund: Schizofreni är en psykossjukdom som drabbar ungefär 0.4% av världens befolkning. Varför personer insjuknar i schizofreni har ännu inte identifierats. Men ett samband kan ses om personernas exponering för miljöfaktorer samt genetisk sårbarhet som kan öka riskerna för att insjukna.Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att sammanställa och beskriva personers upplevelser av att leva med schizofreni.Metod: Litteraturstudien baseras på 11 vetenskapliga artiklar av kvalitativ ansats där innehållet är från tidigare forskning inom samma ämne. Huvudresultat: Resultatet visade att deltagarna hade olika upplevelser av varför de insjuknat i schizofreni. För att leva med schizofreni är det viktigt att acceptera sin situation, sjukdomen kommer inte att försvinna. Känslan av hopp, tillhörighet och gemenskap var viktiga faktorer för personer med schizofreni för att klara av vardagen. Stigmatisering är en stor del av sjukdomen som påverkar personerna som lever med schizofreni. De hamnar i utanförskap och blir diskriminerade av både familj och samhälle vilket i sin tur leder till isolering och ensamhet. Slutsats: Litteraturstudien ger en överblick om hur personer som lever med schizofreni upplever sin sjukdom. Personer med schizofreni upplever ofta att de blir bemött på ett särskilt sätt relaterat till att de har en psykisk sjukdom i bakgrunden. I resultatet framkom det att känslan av hopp och tillhörighet var väsentligt för att klara av utmatningar i vardagen. Att acceptera sin sjukdom ansågs som en styrka för att hantera omgivningen på bästa sätt. / Background: Schizophrenia is a psychotic illness that affects approximately 0.4% of the world's population. Why people develop schizophrenia has not yet been identified, but a connection can be seen from the people's exposure to environmental factors as well as genetic vulnerability that can increase the risk of developing the disease. Aim: The purpose of the literature study was to compile and describe people's experiences of living with schizophrenia. Method: The literature study was based on 11 scientific articles of a qualitative approach where the content is from previous research in the same subject.Main results: The results show that the participants had different experiences of why they fell ill with schizophrenia. To live with schizophrenia is it important to accept your situation, the illness will not go away. The feeling of hope, belonging and community were important factors for people with schizophrenia to cope with everyday life. Stigma is a large part of the illness that affects people living with schizophrenia. They end up in isolation, are discriminated against both by family and society, which leads to isolation and loneliness. Conclusion: The literature study provides an overview of how people living with schizophrenia experience their illness. People with schizophrenia unfortunately experience that they are treated in a special way just because they have a mental illness in the background. In the results, it was shown that the feeling of hope and belonging was important to cope with the demands of everyday life, accepting one's illness was seen as a strength to deal with the environment in the best way.