PURPOSE Illness stigma has been observed across previous outbreaks including Ebola, SARS, HIV/AIDS, and now COVID-19. Although both the stigma of having COVID-19 as well as mental health impacts of COVID-19 have been studied, limited research exists regarding the relationship of stigma and mental health in this population. Thus, the primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between stigma and mental health in adults with COVID-19. METHOD Adult respondents with a diagnosis of COVID-19 (N = 632) completed an online questionnaire distributed between April 17, 2020, and April 18, 2021. The study measures included the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and the 8-Item Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI-8) tailored to measure perceived stigmatization from a COVID-19 diagnosis. RESULTS Participants (mean age = 51) were mostly female (71%), White (73%), married (70%), obese (56%), and had a chronic health condition (56%). Female sex, education status, working from home or not working owing to COVID-19, previous mental health diagnosis, history of chronic illness, and being a current/former smoker were associated with higher stigma scores, whereas older age and Black race were associated with lower stigma scores. CONCLUSIONS Greater stigma and psychological distress was observed in females with a previously diagnosed psychiatric illness and/or chronic health condition. Our findings suggest a disproportionate burden of mental health/psychiatric symptoms/sequelae, including stigma and PTSD, among COVID-19 survivors with a history of mental illness. Further studies are needed to fully characterize COVID-19 related stigma and subsequent mental health experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 患者群体中的耻辱感与心理健康之间的关系。

目的 在以前的疫情中，包括埃博拉病毒、非典、艾滋病毒/艾滋病，以及现在的 COVID-19，都观察到了疾病的耻辱感。尽管已经研究了 COVID-19 的耻辱感以及 COVID-19 对心理健康的影响，但关于该人群的耻辱感与心理健康之间的关系的研究有限。因此，本研究的主要目的是检查 COVID-19 成年人的耻辱感与心理健康之间的关系。方法 诊断为 COVID-19 的成年受访者（N = 632）完成了 2020 年 4 月 17 日至 2021 年 4 月 18 日期间分发的在线问卷。研究措施包括患者健康问卷 8（PHQ-8）、广泛性焦虑障碍 7 项 (GAD-7), 以及 8 项慢性病耻辱量表 (SSCI-8)，用于衡量 COVID-19 诊断所带来的耻辱感。结果 参与者（平均年龄 = 51）主要是女性（71%）、白人（73%）、已婚（70%）、肥胖（56%），并且患有慢性疾病（56%）。女性性别、教育状况、在家工作或因 COVID-19 不工作、先前的心理健康诊断、慢性病史以及当前/曾经吸烟者与较高的污名评分相关，而年龄较大和黑人种族相关具有较低的污名分数。结论 在先前诊断出患有精神疾病和/或慢性健康状况的女性中观察到了更大的耻辱感和心理困扰。我们的研究结果表明，心理健康/精神症状/后遗症的负担不成比例，包括耻辱感和创伤后应激障碍，在有精神疾病史的 COVID-19 幸存者中。需要进一步的研究来充分描述与 COVID-19 相关的污名和随后的心理健康经历。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。