Volume 30, Issue 3, 2021
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2021.5010
Knowledge, Attitude, And Stigma Perception Of The General Population Towards People With Mental Illness: A Cross-Sectional Study From Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Background: Interest in studying the personal attitude and stigma perception towards mental health concerns has grown substantially over the past few decades. However, such data from the general population of Saudi Arabia is lacking. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the attitude, knowledge, and stigma perception of the general population in Saudi Arabia towards mental illnesses and people with mental illnesses.
Methods: A pre-structured interview questionnaire with Cronbach's-? value of 0.79 was used to measures the individual's demographic data, knowledge, personal attitude, and stigma perception towards mental illnesses and people with mental illnesses.
Results: The study result showed 44.2 percent of participants had an adequate knowledge level, while 55.8% had a poor knowledge level regarding mental illness. Association of demographic information with knowledge level showed that good knowledge level was found significantly higher (p=0.028) in females (47.6%) vs. males (38.5%), significantly higher (p=0.001) in university graduates (48.9%) vs. those with below secondary educational level, significantly higher (p=0.001) in participants graduated from the colleges of health sciences (61.6%) vs others (34.2%), and significantly higher (p=0.001) in participants with family member complaining of psychological disorders compared to those without (35.8%). Further, it was found that 25.5% of male participants had a positive attitude compared to 11.4% of females (p=0.001). Also, positive attitude was significantly higher among those with no family member complaining of psychological disorder than those who had (23.4% vs. 2%, p=0.001).
Conclusion: The study findings provided an overview of the attitude, knowledge, and stigma perception of the general population of Saudi Arabia towards mental illnesses and people with mental illnesses.
Keywords
Personal attitude, knowledge, mental illness, Saudi Arabia, stigma