Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Mental health literacy of the Lebanese population (MHeLLP): a cross-sectional study

Mental health literacy of the Lebanese population (MHeLLP): a cross-sectional study This study primarily aims to evaluate the mental health literacy (MHL) of the Lebanese adult population in an attempt to yield results that can help fill the gap in the literature and support the development of new strategies to counter mental health stigma.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey was composed of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and select questions from the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill and MHL Scale. The surveys were collected from a representative population of sample size (n = 386) among the different governorates of Lebanon. The participants, aged 18–65 years and literate, were recruited between July 2018 and September 2018 from supermarkets widely distributed across the country.FindingsThe results showed that the Lebanese population possesses average knowledge and certain stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illnesses. Curricular education and awareness campaigns may help refine the image of mental illness among the population.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first in Lebanon to assess the MHL of its population as a whole. It gives insight into the common misconceptions about mental illness and patterns of the related stigma that are prevalent in the Lebanese society today. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Public Mental Health Emerald Publishing

Mental health literacy of the Lebanese population (MHeLLP): a cross-sectional study

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/mental-health-literacy-of-the-lebanese-population-mhellp-a-cross-RU1vLjl5MV
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1746-5729
eISSN
1746-5729
DOI
10.1108/jpmh-04-2020-0031
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study primarily aims to evaluate the mental health literacy (MHL) of the Lebanese adult population in an attempt to yield results that can help fill the gap in the literature and support the development of new strategies to counter mental health stigma.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey was composed of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and select questions from the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill and MHL Scale. The surveys were collected from a representative population of sample size (n = 386) among the different governorates of Lebanon. The participants, aged 18–65 years and literate, were recruited between July 2018 and September 2018 from supermarkets widely distributed across the country.FindingsThe results showed that the Lebanese population possesses average knowledge and certain stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illnesses. Curricular education and awareness campaigns may help refine the image of mental illness among the population.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first in Lebanon to assess the MHL of its population as a whole. It gives insight into the common misconceptions about mental illness and patterns of the related stigma that are prevalent in the Lebanese society today.

Journal

Journal of Public Mental Health – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 21, 2021

Keywords: Lebanon; Knowledge; Mental health literacy; Mental illness; Stigma; Beliefs

References

  • Knowledge, attitude and behaviors towards patients with mental illness: results from a national Lebanese study
    Abi Doumit, C.; Haddad, C.; Sacre, H.; Salameh, P.; Akel, M.; Obeid, S.; Akiki, M.; Mattar, E.; Hilal, N.; Hallit, S.; Soufia, M.
  • Attitudes toward mental illness, mentally ill persons, and help-seeking among the Saudi public and sociodemographic correlates
    Abolfotouh, M.A.; Almutairi, A.F.; Almutairi, Z.; Salam, M.; Alhashem, A.; Adlan, A.A.; Modayfer, O.
  • Physical health in severe mental illness
    Ashworth, M.; Schofield, P.; Das-Munshi, J.
  • Individualism and collectivism: the case of Lebanon
    Ayyash-Abdo, H.
  • Gender differences in the knowledge, attitude and practice towards mental health illness in a rapidly developing Arab society
    Bener, A.; Ghuloum, S.
  • Community perception towards mental illness among residents of Gimbi town, Western Ethiopia
    Benti, M.; Ebrahim, J.; Awoke, T.; Yohannis, Z.; Bedaso, A.
  • Update on mental health care in Lebanon
    Chahine, L.M.; Chemali, Z.N.
  • Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness
    Corrigan, P.W.; Watson, A.C.
  • Development and psychometric properties of the mental health knowledge schedule
    Evans-Lacko, S.; Little, K.; Meltzer, H.; Rose, D.; Rhydderch, D.; Henderson, C.; Thornicroft, G.
  • Community knowledge, perceived beliefs and associated factors of mental distress: a case study from Northern Ethiopia
    Gebrekidan Abbay, A.; TibebeMulatu, A.; Azadi, H.
  • Determinants of treatment of mental disorders in Lebanon: barriers to treatment and changing patterns of service use
    Karam, E.G.; Karam, G.E.; Farhat, C.; Itani, L.; Fayyad, J.; Karam, A.N.; Mneimneh, Z.; Kessler, R.; Thornicroft, G.
  • Rethinking mental health legislation in Lebanon: updates and implications
    Kerbage, H.
  • Mental health literacy: past
    Kutcher, S.; Wei, Y.; Coniglio, C.
  • Effectiveness of an anti-stigma training on improving attitudes and decreasing discrimination towards people with mental disorders among care assistant workers in Guangzhou
    Li, J.; Fan, Y.; Zhong, H.Q.; Duan, X.L.; Chen, W.; Evans-Lacko, S.; Thornicroft, G.
  • Correlates and consequences of internalized stigma for people living with mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    Livingston, J.D.; Boyd, J.E.
  • Psychiatric disorders among adolescents from Lebanon: prevalence, correlates, and treatment gap
    Maalouf, F.T.; Ghandour, L.A.; Halabi, F.; Zeinoun, P.; Shehab, A.A.; Tavitian, L.
  • Stigma and attitude toward mentally ill among a sample of non-medical staff working in psychiatric hospitals. A transcultural study
    Meguid, M.A.; Rabie, M.A.; Bassim, R.E.
  • The mental health literacy scale (MHLS): a new scale-based measure of mental health literacy
    O’Connor, M.; Casey, L.
  • Measuring mental health literacy – a review of scale-based measures
    O’Connor, M.; Casey, L.; Clough, B.
  • Individualism-collectivism’ as an explanatory device for mental illness stigma
    Papadopoulos, C.; Foster, J.; Caldwell, K.
  • Cultural misconceptions and public stigma against mental illness among Lebanese university students
    Rayan, A.; Fawaz, M.
  • Suggested avenues to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Middle East
    Sewilam, A.M.; Watson, A.M.; Kassem, A.M.; Clifton, S.; McDonald, M.C.; Lipski, R.; Nimgaonkar, V.L.
  • Reducing the stigma of mental illness
    Stuart, H.
  • The relationship between internalized stigma and quality of life among people with mental illness: are self-esteem and sense of coherence sequential mediators?
    Switaj, P.; Grygiel, P.; Chrostek, A.; Nowak, I.; Wciórka, J.; Anczewska, M.
  • Scaling community attitudes toward the mentally ill
    Taylor, S.M.; Dear, M.J.
  • Working with mental illness and the preparation of social workers
    Triplett, D.
  • Why do psychiatric patients stop antipsychotic medication? A systematic review of reasons for nonadherence to medication in patients with serious mental illness
    Velligan, D.I.; Sajatovic, M.; Hatch, A.; Kramata, P.; Docherty, J.P.
  • Estimating the true global burden of mental illness
    Vigo, D.; Thornicroft, G.; Atun, R.
  • Mortality in mental disorders and global disease burden implications: a systematic review and meta-analysis
    Walker, E.; McGee, R.; Druss, B.
  • Applying knowledge translation tools to inform policy: the case of mental health in Lebanon
    Yehia, F.; Jardali, F.E.