Clarification of stigma concepts in research with families of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities

Stigma concepts among families of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities have received increased attention from researchers in the past decade. With a growing number of studies published, there are also notable discrepancies in conceptualizations and uses of stigma terms among scholars. These variations may result in inadequate comparisons of findings across studies and a failure to generalize the results. Therefore, I have compared various stigma concepts and offered key features of each term as well as suggested methodology for facilitating stigma research.