Despite increased awareness of mental health problems, stigma persists. Little research has examined potential health and wellbeing outcomes associated with stigma. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between mental health stigma, metabolic and cardiovascular
biomarkers, as well as wellbeing and quality of life among people with no
mental disorder, common
mental disorders and severe
mental illness. Data were taken from adults aged 16 + years participating in the Health Survey for England in 2014 (N = 5491). Mental health stigma was measured using the 12-item Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, intended to measure attitudes around prejudice and exclusion, and tolerance and support for community care. Individuals were divided into six groups based on their mental health (no
mental disorder, common
mental disorder, severe mental illness) and whether they exhibited more (≤25th percentile) or less (>25th percentile) stigmatising attitudes. Metabolic and cardiovascular
biomarker outcomes included systolic and diastolic blood pressure; total
cholesterol;
high-density lipoprotein (
HDL) cholesterol; glycated haemoglobin, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio and resting pulse rate.
Biomarkers were analysed individually and as an allostatic load score. Wellbeing was measured using Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and quality of life via Euro-QoL-5D (EQ-5D). Linear regression models were calculated adjusted for confounders. Compared to individuals with less stigmatising attitudes, results suggested that those with more negative attitudes exhibited poorer wellbeing and quality of life across all
mental disorder/stigma groups, including those with no
mental disorder (WEMWBS (range 14-70): b = -1.384, 95% CI: -2.107 to -0.661). People with severe
mental illness generally had unhealthier
biomarker profiles and allostatic load scores, but results were inconsistent for any additional influence of mental health stigma. Reducing stigma may be beneficial for population wellbeing, but further research is needed to clarify whether stigma contributes to adverse
biomarkers amongst people with
mental illness.