The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale.
Existing measures of lay causal attributions for mental illness do not discriminate between the diverse array of social factors known to influence mental health. Moreover, while ample research has emphasised the negative stigma consequences of biological attributions, limited research investigates h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324592 |
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| author | Leigh Huggard Finiki Nearchou Cliódhna O'Connor |
| author_facet | Leigh Huggard Finiki Nearchou Cliódhna O'Connor |
| author_sort | Leigh Huggard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Existing measures of lay causal attributions for mental illness do not discriminate between the diverse array of social factors known to influence mental health. Moreover, while ample research has emphasised the negative stigma consequences of biological attributions, limited research investigates how different social attributions might relate to stigma attitudes. The study developed and validated a novel scale to measure lay social attributions for various categories of mental illness. Scale items were generated via data triangulation from an online qualitative survey, a rapid umbrella literature review, and a media analysis. An online survey was disseminated to 500 participants, who rated items' importance in causing four mental illness categories: anorexia nervosa, depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis identified and validated the factor structure of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness scale (SAMI) for each mental illness. Factors identified were life circumstances, violence/abuse, relational challenges, and sociopolitical turmoil. Tests of validity demonstrated good construct validity. This scale enables investigation of how social attributions may differ across populations and mental illness categories, and the consequences of such differences for attitudes and behaviour. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9a51003a77c42ae8945a22fd53c41f4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9a51003a77c42ae8945a22fd53c41f42025-08-20T03:48:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01205e032459210.1371/journal.pone.0324592The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale.Leigh HuggardFiniki NearchouCliódhna O'ConnorExisting measures of lay causal attributions for mental illness do not discriminate between the diverse array of social factors known to influence mental health. Moreover, while ample research has emphasised the negative stigma consequences of biological attributions, limited research investigates how different social attributions might relate to stigma attitudes. The study developed and validated a novel scale to measure lay social attributions for various categories of mental illness. Scale items were generated via data triangulation from an online qualitative survey, a rapid umbrella literature review, and a media analysis. An online survey was disseminated to 500 participants, who rated items' importance in causing four mental illness categories: anorexia nervosa, depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis identified and validated the factor structure of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness scale (SAMI) for each mental illness. Factors identified were life circumstances, violence/abuse, relational challenges, and sociopolitical turmoil. Tests of validity demonstrated good construct validity. This scale enables investigation of how social attributions may differ across populations and mental illness categories, and the consequences of such differences for attitudes and behaviour.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324592 |
| spellingShingle | Leigh Huggard Finiki Nearchou Cliódhna O'Connor The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. PLoS ONE |
| title | The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. |
| title_full | The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. |
| title_fullStr | The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. |
| title_short | The development and validation of the Social Attributions for Mental Illness (SAMI) scale. |
| title_sort | development and validation of the social attributions for mental illness sami scale |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324592 |
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