Eastern Student Mandi Charette of Voluntown Presents Research on Mental Illness Stigma

2017 Dec 4

Mandi Charette '18 of Voluntown was one of two Eastern Connecticut State University students to present a research study as an oral presentation at Eastern's Annual Psychological Science Afternoon on Nov. 27. Charette's study is titled, "Media Influence on Mental Illness Stigma." Charette's major is Psychology.

Charette was inspired to study the influence of media on social illness stigma after extensively educating herself on the matter through a thorough reading of prior research studies. She conducted her research under the guidance of Psychology Professor Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault.

"Mental illness has serious and life-altering effects for many individuals," said Charette during her presentation. "Due to stigma, many people with mental illness have increased difficulties with finding employment, a place to live, and seeking treatment or therapy. Many people with mental illness also have diminished self-esteem."

In order to examine the effects of the media on mental illness stigma, participants in Charette's experiment were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Participants in one group read a stort story designed to imitate a news article about a fictional crime with a brief mention of the perpetrator seeking help for a mental disorder. Participants in the other group read the same short story with no mention of the perpetrator seeking help for a mental disorder. Charette predicted that participants would demonstrate increased stigmatization and recommend longer prison sentences for perpetrators who were mentally ill.

Despite the fact that Charette's study did not show possible influences of media on mental illness, she hopes to address the limitations of her research and conduct another study in the future.

"I would like to thank Professor Salters-Pedneault for her patience in guiding me through the research process," said Charette.