**Attitudes Formed During Adolescence Show Regional Differences in Mental Health Stigma** Burton, Rebecca, Youngstrom, Eric, and Langfus, Joshua The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Chapel Hill, NC Abstract **Objective** Mental health issues still account for a large portion of disability worldwide (Polanczyk, Salum, Sugaya, Caye, & Rohde, 2015). Even so, there is still a lack of mental health awareness and mental health resources accessibility (Walker, Cummings, Hockenberry, & Druss, 2015). One of the factors influencing the lack of accessibility of and openness towards mental health resources is the current negative stigma towards mental health issues (Corrigan, Druss, & Perlick, 2014). Itis therefore imperative to narrow down the factors leading to this current negative stigma. This study examines whether the region in which a person lived as an adolescent influences the mental health stigma they exhibit when taking the General Social Survey later in life. **Method** Secondary analysis of a subset of N=2507 participants (M=45.35 years, SD=16.95, 55% female, 78% white) from across the United States took the General Social Survey (1972-2016). We used the subset that included questions about participants’ region of residency at the age of 16 and questions assessing mental health related stigma. The mental health stigma section was only gathered during the 1973-1978 and 2006 years (Smith et al., 2017). **Results** ANOVA found a statistically significant effect of the region participants lived in at the age of 16 on the level of mental health stigma participants later reported (F=1.99, p < .05). A Games-Howell post hoc test indicated that the South Atlantic had significantly lower average stigma than the Middle Atlantic region (diff=-1.08, p < .05). Age also had a small but significant positive correlation with stigma, r=.06, p=.002, and average age also differed significantly across region (F=5.79, p <.00005), with the Middle Atlantic region being significantly older on average than four other regions (all Games-Howell p<.01). An ANCOVA found that both region and age remained significant predictors of mental health stigma when entered simultaneously, p<.05 and .01, respectively. **Conclusions** Results of this secondary analysis suggest that mental health stigma levels may be decreasing in younger age cohorts, consistent with greater openness and tolerance about mental health, although levels still remain a concern (Jang, Chiriboga, & Okazaki, 2009; Lundervold & Young, 1992; Parcesepe & Cabassa, 2013). Results also indicated that stigma levels may vary by region, even controlling for differences in age. At first glance, regional differences in mental health stigma of participants indicated participants from the Middle Atlantic region (NY, NJ, PA) had higher levels of stigma compared to participants in the South Atlantic region (DE, MD, WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, DC). However, the General Social Survey regional groupings combined states that have vastly different economic development, immigration, and religious and political attitudes. The “South Atlantic” region appears especially mixed in this regard. More research should investigate the current negative stigma towards mental health in the United States, especially using newer cohorts to see if the trend towards greater acceptance is continuing.