Tools to Assess Stigma
Here you can find a selection of tools that can be used to assess multiple forms of mental health stigma. Check out the scales below.
Assessing Self-Stigma
These measures can be used to assess whether a service participant is experiencing self-stigma about a mental health condition.
Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-12)
Discrimination and stigma occur when people are treated unfairly because they are seen as being different from others. This measure asks about how a service participant has been affected by discrimination and stigma because of mental health problems.
Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory (ISMI)
The ISMI is a 29-item measure with five subscales: alienation, stereotype endorsement, perceived discrimination, social withdrawal, and stigma resistance. In addition to its use in research, the ISMI is an excellent way to start discussions about self-stigma -- to increase awareness and understanding about how stigma can come up in one’s thinking and one’s life. It can also highlight areas of strength and resilience.
Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory – 9-item Version (ISMI-9) *
The ISMI-9 is a nine-item unidimensional short form of the original English-language version of the ISMI-29 (above). The ISMI-9 is a self-report instrument designed to measure the overall strength of respondents’ internalized stigma of mental illness (i.e., self-stigma of mental illness) among persons with psychiatric disorders.
Assessing Provider Stigma
These measures can be used to assess whether a provider holds stigmatizing attitudes or beliefs about the service participants they work with.
Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC-15)*
These questions ask health care providers to agree or disagree with a series of statements about mental illness. Please note that this scale is intended for health care providers generally, so some questions may not make sense for mental health care providers specifically.
Assessing Experiences of Discrimination
Williams Everyday Discrimination Scale
This scale can be used to assess various forms of discrimination to which people can be exposed.