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Relevant factors of stigma in patients with depression: a Meta-analysis

Published on Oct. 30, 2026Total Views: 15 timesTotal Downloads: 3 timesDownloadMobile

Author: LING Siyu 1 HE Lin 2 LIU Jie 2 LIU Zhenyan 1 CHEN Xipei 1

Affiliation: 1.College of Nursing, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, China 2.Department of Nursing, Deyang People's Hospital, Deyang 618000, Sichuan Province, China

Keywords: Depression Self-stigma Relevant factors Meta-analysis

DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.202605028

Reference: Ling SY, He L, Liu J, et al. Relevant factors of stigma in patients with depression: a Meta-analysis[J]. Yixue Xinzhi Zazhi, 2026, 36(10): 1153-1163. DOI: 10.12173/j.issn.1004-5511.202605028.[Article in Chinese]

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Abstract

Objective To systematically evaluate the relevant factors of stigma in patients with depression, and to provide evidence for the development of targeted intervention measures in clinical practice.

Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, and SinoMed databases were electronically searched to collect observational studies on the relevant factors of stigma in patients with depression from inception to June 16, 2026. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 18.0 software to calculate pooled correlation coefficients (r) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results A total of 33 studies were included, covering 9 countries and regions, involving 4,985 participants, and 25 relevant factors were extracted. Meta-analysis results showed that factors positively correlated with self-stigma included depression severity [r=0.368, 95%CI (0.281, 0.490)], marital status [r=0.108, 95%CI (0.044, 0.173)], living situation [r=0.328, 95%CI (0.120, 0.509)], number of hospitalizations [r=0.357, 95%CI (0.205, 0.491)], negative coping style [r=0.327, 95%CI (0.127, 0.501)], and number of daily medication types [r=0.283, 95%CI (0.162, 0.396)], all results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Factors negatively correlated with self-stigma included education level [r=-0.211, 95%CI (-0.355, -0.074)], social support [r=-0.561, 95%CI (-0.971, -0.298)], self-efficacy [r=-0.566, 95%CI (-0.691, -0.408)], positive coping style [r=-0.200, 95%CI (-0.285, -0.112)], family income level [r=-0.167, 95%CI (-0.323, -0.003)], social support utilization [r=-0.701, 95%CI (-0.889, -0.313)], self-esteem [r=-0.493, 95%CI (-0.588, -0.385)], and quality of life [r=-0.548, 95%CI (-0.632, -0.451)], all results were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion Self-stigma in patients with depression is associated with multiple factors. Social support, social support utilization, self-efficacy, quality of life, and self-esteem show relatively strong associations with self-stigma. Clinicians should identify relevant factors early and implement targeted preventive measures to reduce the level of self-stigma in patients with depressive disorder.

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