INTERNALIZED MENTAL ILLNESS STIGMA AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH JUVENILE VICTIMIZATION EXPERIENCES

Abstract

Mental health stigma is a serious process that negatively impacts the functioning of people with mental illnesses beyond the impacts of the mental illness itself. Mental health stigma has been found to exist among people with a variety of mental illnesses including depression, and anxiety disorders. It was hypothesized that experiences of juvenile victimization result in stigmatized views of mental illness, avoidance of mental health services, and increased levels of psychological distress among college students. It was found that most individuals experienced some type of victimization experience. In addition, it was found that rates of juvenile victimization experiences were only weakly correlated with current psychological distress.