Who had the most positive attitudes toward people with mental illness?

Details

The study assessed public attitudes toward people with mental illness and mental health services, comparing people with a past history of mental illness, those exposed to people with mental illness, and those not exposed.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,268 participants recruited from malls and parks in four Saudi Arabian cities: Riyadh, Abha, Dammam, and Jizan. All participants completed the “knowledge and attitudes toward mental illness and mental health services scale.”

Participants were divided into a non-exposed group (687, 54.1%), an exposed group (305, 24%), and a group with a past history of mental illness (276, 21.8%). The non-exposed group had the lowest knowledge about mental illness (p < 0.001). The exposed group had the most positive attitudes toward people with mental illness (p = 0.002) and mental health services (p < 0.001), the lowest impact of traditional beliefs (p < 0.001), and the best help-seeking decisions (p = 0.001).

In regression models, attitudes toward mental health services (p = 0.001), the impact of traditional beliefs (p = 0.001), and residency (p = 0.04) predicted attitudes toward people with mental illness. The impact of traditional beliefs (p < 0.001), knowledge (p < 0.001), and residency (p = 0.028) predicted attitudes toward mental health services. The impact of traditional beliefs (p < 0.001), attitudes toward mental health services (p = 0.001), and a past history of mental illness (p = 0.006) predicted future decisions.

The researchers concluded that attitudes toward mental illness differed significantly among the groups. Less impact of traditional beliefs and greater knowledge about mental illness were the factors most associated with more positive attitudes toward people with mental illness and mental health services, and with better help-seeking behavior. The abstract’s keywords were public, attitude, opinion, mental illness, mental health service, and Saudi Arabia.