Abstract

Associative stigma in mental health providers affects the relationship between the professional and the person with mental illness and the well-being of the mental health provider. Few instruments have been developed for these purposes; most lack good psychometric properties. This is a quantitative, observational, and cross-sectional study. The factorial structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of the Associative Stigma in Mental Healthcare Providers Scale were studied. Two independent samples were recruited; both include mental health provider in primary and specialty care (N = 272 and N = 419). The final scale consisted of ten items, divided into two factors: negative attitudes toward mental healthcare work, seven items (a = 0.80; w = 0.84), and shame on disclosure, three items (a = 0.55; w = 0.79). The internal consistency for the total scale was acceptable (a = 0.78 and w = 0.90). The concurrent validity presented moderate and significant correlations with depersonalization and emotional exhaustion ranging between rp = 0.14 and rp = 0.22. The Associative Stigma in Mental Healthcare Providers Scale has a factorial structure and adequate level of internal consistency and concurrent validity, which supports its use among healthcare providers. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024.