{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T08:24:13Z","timestamp":1789633453516,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000923","name":"Australian Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DP250102690"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DP250102690"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000923","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosmentalhealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Ment Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Whether people experiencing mental ill health or disability should be referred to using person-first (e.g., \u201cperson with autism\u201d) or identity-first (e.g., \u201cautistic person\u201d) terminology is an ongoing subject of debate. The present study conducted the most comprehensive investigation to date of historical trends in the use of the two kinds of terms, evaluating the frequency of \u201cX person\/people\u201d relative to \u201cperson\/people with X\u201d expressions for a collection of mental health, disability, and other conditions in Google Books (1980\u20132019) and the News on the Web corpus (2010\u20132025). Consistent with predictions, person-first language became more popular from 1980 onward, but this trend was counteracted by a more recent swing toward identity-first language, resulting in a curvilinear trend. Identity-first language was also more prevalent in singular than in plural expressions. Beyond these broad trends, there was substantial diversity in terminological preferences and trends across conditions. Implications are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmen.0000684","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T17:29:44Z","timestamp":1789579784000},"page":"e0000684","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmen.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Who you are or what you have: Historical trends in identity-first and person-first language in books and news media"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7557-818X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jemima","family":"Kang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, Victoria, Australia"]},{"name":"School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3873-5021","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Naomi","family":"Baes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, Victoria, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7539-4071","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Alsa","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, Victoria, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1913-2340","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nick","family":"Haslam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, Victoria, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1037\/10589-000","volume-title":"Physical Disability - a Psychosocial Approach","author":"BA Wright","year":"1983","edition":"2"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref002","volume-title":"DSM-III-R","author":"American Psychiatric Association","year":"1987"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref003","author":"American Psychological Association","year":"2020"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1037\/a0038636","article-title":"Person-First and Identity-First Language: Developing Psychologists\u2019 Cultural Competence Using Disability Language","volume":"70","author":"DS Dunn","year":"2015","journal-title":"Am Psychol"},{"issue":"7","key":"pmen.0000684.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"859","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12706","article-title":"Editorial Perspective: The use of person-first language in scholarly writing may accentuate stigma","volume":"58","author":"MA Gernsbacher","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Child Psychol Psychiatry"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1177\/0959354307073152","article-title":"Schizophrenic person or person with schizophrenia?: An essay on illness and the self","volume":"17","author":"LA Sass","year":"2007","journal-title":"Theory Psychol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000684.ref007","first-page":"18","article-title":"Person-first disability language: A pilot analysis of public perceptions","volume":"60","author":"RT Lynch","year":"1994","journal-title":"J Rehabil"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref008","first-page":"120","article-title":"Preferences of individuals with visual impairments for the use of person-first language","volume":"36","author":"JO Bickford","year":"2004","journal-title":"Re:View"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"788","DOI":"10.1177\/13623613221117914","article-title":"\u2018Autistic person\u2019 or \u2018person with autism\u2019? Person-first language preference in Dutch adults with autism and parents","volume":"27","author":"R Buijsman","year":"2023","journal-title":"Autism"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000684.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"677","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-020-04425-3","article-title":"It defines who I am or it\u2019s something I have: What language do autistic Australian adults on the autism spectrum prefer?","volume":"53","author":"SM Bury","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Autism Dev Disord"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000684.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"406","DOI":"10.1002\/aur.2864","article-title":"Autism-related language preferences of English-speaking individuals across the globe: A mixed methods investigation","volume":"16","author":"CT Keating","year":"2023","journal-title":"Autism Res"},{"issue":"4","key":"pmen.0000684.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"442","DOI":"10.1177\/1362361315588200","article-title":"Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community","volume":"20","author":"L Kenny","year":"2016","journal-title":"Autism"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000684.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1177\/13623613221130845","article-title":"Preferences for identity-first versus person-first language in a US sample of autism stakeholders","volume":"27","author":"A Taboas","year":"2023","journal-title":"Autism"},{"issue":"6","key":"pmen.0000684.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1588","DOI":"10.1177\/13623613221142383","article-title":"Understanding Language Preference: Autism Knowledge, Experience of Stigma and Autism Identity","volume":"27","author":"SM Bury","year":"2023","journal-title":"Autism"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1947","DOI":"10.1007\/s11469-022-00967-y","article-title":"The Impact of Linguistic Form of Labels on Desire for Social Distance in Mental Health","volume":"22","author":"MG Mallinson","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int J Ment Health Addict"},{"issue":"1","key":"pmen.0000684.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1002\/jcad.12059","article-title":"The Power of Language and Labels: \u201cThe Mentally Ill\u201d Versus \u201cPeople With Mental Illnesses\u201d","volume":"94","author":"DH Granello","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Couns Dev"},{"issue":"1","key":"pmen.0000684.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1002\/jaoc.12102","article-title":"The effect of person\u2010first language on attitudes toward people with addiction","volume":"43","author":"EA Baker","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Addict Offender Couns"},{"issue":"1","key":"pmen.0000684.ref018","first-page":"49","article-title":"Preferred language practice in professional rehabilitation journals","volume":"57","author":"J La Forge","year":"1991","journal-title":"J Rehabil"},{"issue":"4","key":"pmen.0000684.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1037\/h0091582","article-title":"Disabling language and attitudes toward persons with disabilities","volume":"32","author":"JB Patterson","year":"1987","journal-title":"Rehabil Psycho"},{"issue":"04","key":"pmen.0000684.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.4236\/ojml.2014.44043","article-title":"A Quantitative Content Analysis of Person-First Language Use in Healthcare Research, Healthcare Practice, and by Support Groups for People with Disabilities","volume":"04","author":"M Barnish","year":"2014","journal-title":"OJML"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"828","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pragma.2010.09.016","article-title":"Political correctness, euphemism, and language change: The case of \u2018people first\u2019","volume":"43","author":"H Halmari","year":"2011","journal-title":"J Pragmat"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"424","DOI":"10.1093\/applin\/amad033","article-title":"Weight Stigma: Towards a Language-Informed Analytical Framework","volume":"45","author":"M Bednarek","year":"2023","journal-title":"Appl Linguist"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/9781108991278","volume-title":"The Language of Mental Illness: Corpus Linguistics and the Construction of Mental Illness in the Press","author":"HL Price","year":"2022"},{"issue":"3","key":"pmen.0000684.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2005.05.004","article-title":"Describing the social world: How is a person, a group, and a relationship described in the East and the West?","volume":"42","author":"Y Kashima","year":"2006","journal-title":"J Exp Soc Psychol"},{"issue":"6014","key":"pmen.0000684.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1199644","article-title":"Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books","volume":"331","author":"The Google Books Team","year":"2011","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref026","unstructured":"Davies M. The new 4.3 billion word NOW corpus, with 4\u20135 million words of data added every day. 2017. In: Proceedings of The 9th international corpus linguistics conference. vol. 2017. 2017. 2 p. [cited 2021 October 29]. Available from: https:\/\/www.birmingham.ac.uk\/Documents\/college-artslaw\/corpus\/conference-archives\/2017\/general\/paper250.pdf"},{"issue":"2","key":"pmen.0000684.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1159\/000523723","article-title":"The neurodiversity approach(es): What are they and what do they mean for researchers?","volume":"66","author":"P Dwyer","year":"2022","journal-title":"Hum Dev"},{"issue":"9","key":"pmen.0000684.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"759","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2006.01779.x","article-title":"Beliefs about essences and the reality of mental disorders","volume":"17","author":"WK Ahn","year":"2006","journal-title":"Psychol Sci"},{"issue":"6","key":"pmen.0000684.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1521\/jscp.21.6.628.22793","article-title":"Essentialist Beliefs About Mental Disorders","volume":"21","author":"N Haslam","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Soc Clin Psychol"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brat.2015.06.005","article-title":"Emphasizing Malleability in the biology of depression: Durable effects on perceived agency and prognostic pessimism","volume":"71","author":"MS Lebowitz","year":"2015","journal-title":"Behav Res Ther"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Guley O, Heller J, Pasquinelli E, Nettle D. Do People Perceive Mental Disorders as a Part of the True Self? Implications and Variation across Seven Disorders [Preprint]. PsyArXiv. 2025 [cited 2026 March 15]. Available from: https:\/\/europepmc.org\/article\/ppr\/ppr994404","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/z3hbs_v2"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref032","first-page":"1","article-title":"Preferences for identity-first and person-first language: a systematic review of research with autistic adults\/adults with autism","author":"RK Schuck","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Autism Dev Disord"},{"key":"pmen.0000684.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sannon S, Young J, Shusas E, Forte A. Disability Activism on Social Media: Sociotechnical Challenges in the Pursuit of Visibility. In: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Hamburg Germany: ACM; 2023. p. 1\u201315. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3544548.3581333","DOI":"10.1145\/3544548.3581333"}],"container-title":["PLOS Mental Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmen.0000684","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T17:29:51Z","timestamp":1789579791000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmen.0000684"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Pierre Olivier","family":"Jacquet","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement des Yvelines \/ INSERM","place":["FRANCE"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"references-count":33,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmen.0000684","relation":{},"ISSN":["2837-8156"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2837-8156","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]}}}