This page was translated automatically from Turkish. Read the original

This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV1286

Internalized stigma and self-esteem in patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome

INTERNALIZED STIGMA AND SELF-ESTEEM IN PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE SYNDROME

In patients with alcohol dependence syndrome, internalized stigma levels were below the scale midpoint, and higher self-esteem was associated with lower internalized stigma.

The aim of the study was to obtain information about internalized stigma and self-esteem in individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome; internalized stigma is defined as arising when individuals apply society's stereotypes and stigmatizing attitudes to themselves, and as a common barrier to recovery. Patients receiving psychiatric treatment in selected units in Vienna completed the German versions of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; inclusion criteria were sufficient German language proficiency, the ability to provide written informed consent, and an age between 18 and 65 years. The ISMI is a four-point Likert scale comprising five subscales, with higher scores indicating greater internalized stigma; the stigma resistance subscale is reverse-scored. Higher scores on the 10-item Rosenberg scale indicate higher self-esteem. Analyses were performed using SPSS 28, associations were examined using Pearson correlation, and a p-value of 0.05 or below was considered statistically significant. The study included 74 participants (48 men, 64.9%; mean age 48.8 years; range 21–65). Mean ISMI subscale scores were 2.08 for alienation, 1.75 for stereotype endorsement, 1.82 for discrimination experience, 1.96 for social withdrawal, and 2.28 for stigma resistance; the mean Rosenberg self-esteem score was 25.49 (range 21–32), and the Pearson correlation between the two measures was negative, r = −0.387 (p = 0.002). The authors report that mean scores below the scale midpoint (2.5) indicate low levels of internalized stigma, that the group showed average levels of self-esteem, that higher self-esteem was associated with lower internalized stigma, and that no gender differences were found in the group studied.

All WCP 2026 summaries