“Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome
Abstract Background People reporting long COVID (LC) or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS) not only suffer from their symptoms but also from stigmatization. Despite ample account and characterization of stigma experiences so far, its mechanisms and consequences on health outcomes, and particu...
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BMC
2025-08-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04335-0 |
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| author | Ronja Büchner Christian Sander Stephanie Schindler Martin Walter Carmen Scheibenbogen Georg Schomerus |
| author_facet | Ronja Büchner Christian Sander Stephanie Schindler Martin Walter Carmen Scheibenbogen Georg Schomerus |
| author_sort | Ronja Büchner |
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| description | Abstract Background People reporting long COVID (LC) or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS) not only suffer from their symptoms but also from stigmatization. Despite ample account and characterization of stigma experiences so far, its mechanisms and consequences on health outcomes, and particularly the role of “psychologization” remain unclear. Methods In a cross-sectional observational study, we examined a large convenience sample of adults who report having LC or PCVS. We translated and adapted the “Long Covid Stigma Scale” to measure stigmatization. We measured generally perceived and personally experienced psychologization with newly developed scales/items. Outcome measures included disclosure concerns, loss of trust in medicine, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and loneliness. We calculated overall prevalences of stigma and psychologization and their correlations with the outcomes. Using mediation analysis with SEM, we tested the hypothesis that psychologization of LC and PCVS syndromes causes harm by increasing stigmatization. Results Altogether, N = 2053 individuals (68% reporting LC, 32% reporting PCVS) were included in the analyses. The overall prevalences of stigma experiences were high: 83% of those reporting LC and 90% of those reporting PCVS experienced stigma. Prevalences of perceived psychologization (LC: 87%, PCVS: 91%) and experienced psychologization (LC: 82%, PCVS: 87%) were similarly high. Both stigmatization and psychologization were positively correlated with disclosure concerns, loss of trust in medicine, depression, anxiety, and loneliness as well as negatively correlated with life satisfaction and self-esteem. Mediation analysis indicated that stigmatization mediated a relevant proportion of the relationship between psychologization and negative outcomes. Conclusions People reporting LC or PCVS are subject to stigmatization and psychologization. From a patient perspective, psychologization appears to be an important driver of stigmatization and negative outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4aa56c44ca944e658bf3b5a1acdb6202 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1741-7015 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-4aa56c44ca944e658bf3b5a1acdb62022025-08-24T11:33:56ZengBMCBMC Medicine1741-70152025-08-0123111310.1186/s12916-025-04335-0“Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndromeRonja Büchner0Christian Sander1Stephanie Schindler2Martin Walter3Carmen Scheibenbogen4Georg Schomerus5Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center, Leipzig UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center, Leipzig UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University HospitalInstitute of Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu BerlinDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig UniversityAbstract Background People reporting long COVID (LC) or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS) not only suffer from their symptoms but also from stigmatization. Despite ample account and characterization of stigma experiences so far, its mechanisms and consequences on health outcomes, and particularly the role of “psychologization” remain unclear. Methods In a cross-sectional observational study, we examined a large convenience sample of adults who report having LC or PCVS. We translated and adapted the “Long Covid Stigma Scale” to measure stigmatization. We measured generally perceived and personally experienced psychologization with newly developed scales/items. Outcome measures included disclosure concerns, loss of trust in medicine, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and loneliness. We calculated overall prevalences of stigma and psychologization and their correlations with the outcomes. Using mediation analysis with SEM, we tested the hypothesis that psychologization of LC and PCVS syndromes causes harm by increasing stigmatization. Results Altogether, N = 2053 individuals (68% reporting LC, 32% reporting PCVS) were included in the analyses. The overall prevalences of stigma experiences were high: 83% of those reporting LC and 90% of those reporting PCVS experienced stigma. Prevalences of perceived psychologization (LC: 87%, PCVS: 91%) and experienced psychologization (LC: 82%, PCVS: 87%) were similarly high. Both stigmatization and psychologization were positively correlated with disclosure concerns, loss of trust in medicine, depression, anxiety, and loneliness as well as negatively correlated with life satisfaction and self-esteem. Mediation analysis indicated that stigmatization mediated a relevant proportion of the relationship between psychologization and negative outcomes. Conclusions People reporting LC or PCVS are subject to stigmatization and psychologization. From a patient perspective, psychologization appears to be an important driver of stigmatization and negative outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04335-0Long COVIDPost-COVID conditionStigmatizationPsychologizationPost-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| spellingShingle | Ronja Büchner Christian Sander Stephanie Schindler Martin Walter Carmen Scheibenbogen Georg Schomerus “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome BMC Medicine Long COVID Post-COVID condition Stigmatization Psychologization Post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title | “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title_full | “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title_fullStr | “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title_short | “Have you considered that it could be burnout?”—psychologization and stigmatization of self-reported long COVID or post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| title_sort | have you considered that it could be burnout psychologization and stigmatization of self reported long covid or post covid 19 vaccination syndrome |
| topic | Long COVID Post-COVID condition Stigmatization Psychologization Post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04335-0 |
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