Investigating Depression Literacy in Military Adults of Mashhad

Abstract

Objective(s): Depression literacy is an important concept and having adequate depression literacy can improve prevention, early diagnosis, intervention, and prognosis of depression. The current study is a short report on depression literacy in military personnel. Methods: This was a cross sectional study. The statistical population of this study consisted of all military personnel who were referred to the psychology and counseling clinics of the military in Mashhad, Iran from May to September 2022, which included 1500 clients. Based on Cochran's sample size formula, 300 military personnel completed the depression literacy questionnaires of Griffiths et al. and the second edition of Depression by Beck et al. The findings were analyzed with SPSS-24 software and Spearman`s correlation test. Results: Among the indicators of depression literacy, awareness of cognitive-behavioral symptoms received the lowest score while awareness of psychological symptoms obtained the highest score. Moreover, having a history of depression and the military deployment had a significant effect on the component of the signs and symptoms of depression (P<0.05). Conclusion: Psychotherapists in barracks should teach new soldiers about the symptoms of depression and what can be the underlying factors of depression in military personnel and soldiers.

Keywords

• depression
• health literacy
• literacy
• military personnel