Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care (Jan 2022)

Exploring awareness, attitude, and practices toward mental illnesses: A cross-sectional survey among university students in Saudi Arabia

  • Ahmad Alqassim,
  • Anwar Makeen,
  • Anas Ahmed,
  • Abdulilah Alqarny,
  • Awidah Alrabaee,
  • Almothana Aboalqasim,
  • Abdulmageed Ageel,
  • Anas Alnami,
  • Mousa Hassani,
  • Mohammed Hakami,
  • Mohamed Mahfouz,
  • Abdullah Alharbi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2023_21
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 8
pp. 4568 – 4575

Abstract

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Background: Mental illness is a serious condition requiring early intervention. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and stigma toward mental illness among university students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted during the academic year 2018–2019 in a university in Saudi Arabia. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select students (n = 778). A standardized self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: The students had an adequate level of knowledge on mental illness (44.1%), and almost half of them had a positive attitude (52.2%) toward mental illness. The female students (55.9%) exhibited a significantly higher positive attitude than the males (48.4%) (P = 0.038). The students' knowledge level increased significantly with an increase in the academic year (P = 0.010). The students from urban places showed a significantly higher knowledge level (50.5%) than those from the rural areas (40.5%) (P = 0.007). The students from health-related colleges (59.7%) showed higher positive attitudes, but without statistical significance (P = 0.104) than those from other colleges. The female gender (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–1.88, P = 0.020) was an important factor associated with positive attitudes. The important independent predictors of adequate mental illness knowledge were living in urban places (OR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.09–1.98, P = 0.012) and studying in the sixth year (OR = 2.1, 95% CI, 1.1–3.9, P = 0.028). Conclusions: Although students showed a favorable attitude toward mental illness, their knowledge level can be improved. Research outcomes can be used to design health educational interventions to enhance university students' mental health literacy.

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