Roles of perception of similarities, continuum beliefs, and social distance toward a person with schizophrenia: a German sample study.

Continuum beliefs (CB) interventions aim to reduce the stigma of schizophrenia by stating that people with and without schizophrenia exist on one mental health-illness continuum. The current study examines the interrelation between perception of similarities (PoS), CB and desire for social distance (SD) in a German population sample (N = 760). Applying linear regression models: PoS and CB were significantly associated with lower SD explaining about 12% variance and PoS was significantly associated with higher CB.

Continuum beliefs and the perception of similarities and differences to a person with depression.

Objective: Both continuum beliefs (i.e., that mental disorder exists on a spectrum of normative behavior patterns) and the perception of similarities to a person with schizophrenia have shown mixed effects on reducing mental illness stigma.