Table 1

Characteristics of the sample (N=834)

Demographic characteristics
 Age (mean, SD)42.7 (11.9)
 Female gender (%)66.9
 Education (%)
  None, primary (age ≤12), secondary (≤15–16 years) or vocational qualification43.8
  Diploma, degree or postgraduate qualification56.2
 Marital status (%)
  Married or cohabiting52.2
  Single or non-cohabiting partner25.9
  Widowed, separated, divorced21.7
 Belongs to ethnic minority (%)8.2
 Human Development Index score*
  Very high HDI countries47.0
  High HDI countries28.2
  Medium HDI countries14.0
  Low HDI countries10.8
Mental health characteristics
 Ever admitted for psychiatric care (%)36
 Age of first contact with mental health services (mean, SD)33.6 (11.8)
 Internalised stigma total score† (mean, SD)2.4 (0.55)
Work-related characteristics
 Employment
  Full-time or part-time51.2
  Volunteer, or working in a sheltered accommodation or at home13.1
  Looking for a job14.4
  Unemployed, not looking for a job‡21.3
  • *HDI, United Nations Development Programme.19

  • †Total score on the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness scale.20 Scale ranges from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating higher internalised stigma.

  • ‡Combination of ‘Would like to work but afraid to loose benefits’, ‘unable to work’, ‘choose not to work’.