PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF INTERNALIZED STIGMA AMONG PATIENTS WITH SEVERE MENTAL DISORDER: THE CASE OF AMANUEL SPECIALIZED MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL

This study attempted to examine the prevalence and associated factors of internalized stigma among persons with severe mental illness in Amanuel Specialized Mental Hospital. The study employed cross-sectional design in order to select 114 participants from bipolar, schizophrenia and major depression diagnosed patients using convenient sampling technique. Pre-developed standardized instruments were used in order to measure constructs of internalized stigma, experienced stigma and self-esteem. The results of the study indicated that nearly higher proportion of the participants, which is 49 (43%) of them, experienced moderate level of internalized stigma and 37 (32.5%) and 21 (18.4%) of participants exhibited mild and minimal levels of internalized stigma respectively. This study also indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between internalized stigma and experienced discrimination, r=0.743, p<.05. There was also a very mild positive relationship between internalized stigma and duration of time living with the illness, r=0.367, p<.05. However, internalized stigma was negatively correlated with self-esteem, r- .486,p<.05. Similarly, internalized stigma was negatively correlated with general selfefficacy, r= -.671,p<.05. About 68.9% variation of internalized stigma was explained by the variation of self-efficacy, self-esteem, experiencing stigma, age of the participants, and length of time living with the illness. In conclusion, the study revealed that the internalized Stigma of participants can be explained by the associated factors of age, self-esteem, self-efficacy, length of time living with the illness and experienced stigma.