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Cross-cultural comparison of mental illness stigma : A Multinational Population-Based Study from 16 Arab Countries and 10,036 Individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

M. Stambouli ,
F. Fekih Romdhane ,
F. Ghrissi ,
A. Jaoua ,
S. Ellini  and
M. Cheour
M. Stambouli*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
F. Fekih Romdhane
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
F. Ghrissi
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
A. Jaoua
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
S. Ellini
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
M. Cheour
Affiliation:
Psychiatry department E, Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Attitudes toward people with mental disorders in Arab countries have undergone huge transformations throughout history. Stigmatization of the mentally ill has been a long tradition in our communities. The public’s views have evolved since then, however, little is known about the current situation regarding mental illness stigma in our context.

Objectives

Explore attitudes towards mental illness and mental health knowledge in Arab countries.

Methods

We carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries.The Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill scale,the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule scale and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form were administered to participants from the general public.

Results

The study sample was predominantly female (77%), married (41%), educated (89% with tertiary education), living in urban areas (85%), with a mean age of 29.6 ± 10.8 years.

Based on the CAMI, MAKS, and ATSPPH-SF total scores, 75th, 50th, and 25th percentile were considered as cut-off points for the high, medium, and low scores. We found that 26.5% exhibited stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illnesses, 31.7% had poor knowledge, and 28.0% hold negative attitudes toward help-seeking. Regarding attitudes toward mental illness, the highest mean score was on the social restrictiveness subscale (35.1 ± 5.6), reflecting the lowest amounts of stigma in this dimension; while the lowest mean score was on the Authoritarianism subscale (32.0 ± 4.6).

We found a significant difference between countries regarding attitudes (F=194.8, p<.001) and knowledge (F=88.7, p<.001).

Conclusions

Although much scientific progress has been made in the fields of diagnosing and treating mental illness, at a societal level the stigmatization of mental illness is still an important societal problem. The general population is largely ignorant about mental disorders, and fear of the mentally ill remains prevalent.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S342
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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