Measuring shame through a combination of self-report, language and body posture may be clinically helpful

In stigmatized illnesses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), shame and other negative self-conscious emotions are associated with suboptimal engagement in health care via stress and avoidance coping. However, shame is challenging to assess via self-reporting. Research has shown that people express emotions in different ways, including self-reported emotion, what they say (using shame-related words), and facial and body movements. While people may be self-conscious about expressing or revealing shame, combining ways to measure shame could be helpful in improving accurate assessment.