Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani university students towards mental illnesses
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Health Policy, Psychiatry and Psychology, Public Health
- Keywords
- Social stigma, Attitude, Social psychology, Mental illness
- Copyright
- © 2014 Waqas et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2014. Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani university students towards mental illnesses. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e454v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.454v1
Abstract
Background: The objectives of the study were to explore the knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani university students toward mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses are challenged not only by their symptoms but also by the prejudices associated with their illness. Acknowledging the stigma of mental illness should be the first essential step toward devising an appropriate treatment plan.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the University of Punjab, Lahore, CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, and University of Sargodha, Sub-campus Lahore, from February to May, 2014. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of three sections: demographics, general knowledge of psychiatric illnesses, and a modified form of the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illnesses (CAMI) Scale. The questionnaire was distributed to 650 participants enrolled in different disciplines (Social Sciences, Medicine and Formal Sciences).
Results: Response rate was 81% (527/650 respondents). Mean age was 20.98 years. Most of the students (331, 62.8%) had an urban background and studied Social Sciences (238, 45.2%). 418 (79.3%) considered religion very important and most respondents considered psychiatrists (334, 63.4%) and spiritual leaders (72, 13.7%) to be best able to treat mental illnesses. 169 (32.1%) considered black magic to be a cause of mental illness. Only 215 (41%) had ever read an article on mental illnesses. Multiple regression analysis revealed study discipline, exposure, perceived causes of mental illnesses and superstitions to be significantly associated with attitudes towards mental illnesses (p < .05).
Conclusion: Although low awareness and exposure were found in this sample of Pakistani university students, their attitude towards mental illnesses was generally positive. Most respondents gave supernatural explanations for mental illnesses but only a few believed that spiritual leaders can play a role in treatment.
Author Comment
This manuscript has been submitted in another journal for publication on 4th August, 2014.
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