Abstract: Objective: To analyze the latent classes of the stigma development trajectory among the family members of patients with first-episode mental disorders, and to analyze the influencing factors, so as to provide references for clinical nursing. Methods: By using the convenience sampling method, 200 family members of patients with first-episode mental disorders who were admitted to a tertiary grade A psychiatric specialized hospital in Shaoxing from January 2021 to December 2023 were prospectively recruited as the research participants. The Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination Scale was used to assess the stigma of the family members of the patients at baseline, 1-month follow-up, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The optimal number of classes was analyzed by the growth mixture model and classes were named, and the independent influencing factors of latent class differences were analyzed by Logistic regression analysis. Results: The stigma development trajectory of the 200 family members of patients with first-episode mental disorders could be divided into four classes, namely, mild stigma aggravation type, mild stigma improvement type, moderate stigma improvement type, and high-level stigma improvement type. Age, educational level, per-capita monthly family income, co-care with others, occupation, social support, and patient disease type were the independent influencing factors for the family members of patients with first-episode mental disorders to form different stigma development trajectories (P<0.05). Conclusion: There is heterogeneity in the stigma development trajectory of the family members of patients with first-episode mental disorders, and it is affected by factors such as age, educational level, per-capita monthly family income, co-care with others, social support, occupation, and patient disease type.

Key words: psychiatric disorder; family member stigma; latent class; influencing factor; growth mixture model