Abstract
The widespread prevalence of mental illness in America suggests that genetic counselors (GCs) will encounter many patients with mental health concerns. However, GC stigma towards individuals with mental illness has not been studied extensively. In this study, an online survey was distributed via ABGC and NSGC to examine GC and GC students’ stigma towards individuals affected with mental illness. The Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) was utilized to measure stigma and identify specific factors that influence these stigmatizing attitudes. Respondents included 365 practicing genetic counselors and 100 genetic counseling students. Demographics were generally consistent with the 2018 NSGC Professional Status survey. A 17-item version of the OMS-HC scale had the greatest validity for the GC population and was able to measure five specific aspects of stigma: attitudes, disclosure, help-seeking, social \r distance, and social responsibility. GC students had higher help-seeking stigma than practicing GCs (p <0.05). Greater exposure to friends or family members affected with mental illness was associated with lower attitudes, social distance, and social responsibility stigma (p< 0.05). Work experience as a GC was associated with lower disclosure stigma (p< 0.05). Higher attitude stigma was associated with a lower reported frequency of engaging in the following behaviors during a genetic counseling session: inquiring about mental illness experience in patient’s life, addressing the genetics and recurrence risks of mental illness, or addressing the emotional needs of patients arising from mental illness experience (p < 0.05). These findings highlight how certain experiences can impact GC stigma and suggest that attitudes stigma could impact the content of a GC session. Future studies should utilize the OMS-HC scale to examine the impact of anti-stigma interventions in the GC population as well as the subsequent impact on GC session content.