Thoughtless use of generative artificial intelligence and college students' self-directed learning: a multi-group SEM analysis of gender differences.

With 107,851 new cases in 2022–2023 alone, India continues to account for the highest number of newly reported cases of leprosy globally. Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease affecting the skin and nerves, causing discoloured, faded patches of skin, nodules, or growths, and painless swelling or lumps on the face or earlobes. Early detection and treatment is crucial to reduce long-term disabilities such as loss of sensation, muscle paralysis, deformity, and blindness. Leprosy is not highly contagious, and most adults are not susceptible to infection due to an effective immune response. Despite free access to effective Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) treatment, the prevalence of leprosy remains high in India. The existing stigma that is associated with the disease is a large contributor to this high prevalence, as it creates a barrier for people affected by leprosy to seek help, which thereby delays detection and the initiation of treatment. Concepts of stigma are commonly described across several interrelated domains, including perceived, anticipated, enacted, and internalised stigma. These dimensions are widely recognised in stigma research and have been discussed extensively in foundational work by Link and Phelan and by Corrigan and colleagues. In the context of infectious diseases, these domains have been applied to better understand how stigma manifests and affects health outcomes. For example, Mukerji and Turan applied this classification to examine stigma experiences in tuberculosis.