Gender effect on public stigma changes towards psychosis in the Hong Kong Chinese population: a comparison between population surveys of 2009 and 2014

Purpose Public stigma is an important barrier to the recovery of patients with psychosis. The current study aimed to investigate the change in stigma towards psychosis and knowledge about psychosis between 2009 and 2014 among the Chinese population in Hong Kong, with a specific focus on gender role. Methods Random telephone survey of general population in Hong Kong was conducted in 2009 and 2014. Stigma was measured with the revised Link’s Perceived Discrimination-Devaluation Scale (LPDDS). Logistic regression was used to explore the effect of time on the change of knowledge of psychosis, and linear regression was used to explore the effect of time on the change of stigma. Change of knowledge and stigma based on gender was specifically explored. Results In total, 1016 and 1018 subjects completed the survey in 2009 and 2014, respectively. Significantly, more people agreed with medication treatment for psychosis and fewer people had misunderstanding about psychosis. However, there was no significant change in stigma levels. Males were found to have a significant deterioration of stigma ( B = 0.099, SE = 0.033, β = 0.100, p = 0.003) but not females. Significantly, more males endorsed medication treatment for psychosis ( χ 2 = 5.850, df = 1, p = 0.016) but no change for females ( χ 2 = 1.401, df = 1, p = 0.238). Conclusions Results of this study suggested that there was an improvement in the biological understanding of psychosis but no change of public stigma within the Hong Kong Chinese population. The specific role of gender in relation to stigma and level of knowledge about psychosis indicates that this should be a consideration in designing future anti-stigma campaigns.