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Mental Health Literacy
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Mental Health Literacy

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2023) | Viewed by 16277

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yin-Ju Lien

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, Heping East Road Section 1, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Interests: mental health literacy; psychiatric epidemiology; adolescent mental health development; mental health promotion and education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mental health literacy (MHL) is a multifaceted concept including several components: (1) maintenance of positive mental health, (2) recognition of mental disorders, (3) mental illness stigma attitudes, (4) help-seeking efficacy (i.e., knowing when and where to receive mental health services), and (5) help-seeking attitude. MHL is associated with positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help as well as the utilization of mental health care. MHL is also associated with positive mental health outcomes (e.g., psychological well-being). Papers addressing the abovementioned components, including survey research, intervention studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, are invited for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Yin-Ju Lien
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • positive mental health
  • mental disorders
  • stigma
  • help-seeking efficacy
  • help-seeking attitude

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 616 KiB  
Article
Predictors of Mental Health Literacy among Parents, Guardians, and Teachers of Adolescents in West Malaysia
by Picholas Kian Ann Phoa, Asrenee Ab Razak, Hue San Kuay, Anis Kausar Ghazali, Azriani Ab Rahman, Maruzairi Husain, Raishan Shafini Bakar and Firdaus Abdul Gani
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010825 - 1 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4615
Abstract
Parents, guardians, and teachers are the informal sources of mental health support that adolescents rely on. Nevertheless, limited mental health knowledge limits their ability and confidence in providing appropriate assistance. This study aims to (1) evaluate the relationship between the roles of parents/guardians [...] Read more.
Parents, guardians, and teachers are the informal sources of mental health support that adolescents rely on. Nevertheless, limited mental health knowledge limits their ability and confidence in providing appropriate assistance. This study aims to (1) evaluate the relationship between the roles of parents/guardians and teachers and their responses to discover the common misconceptions on mental health among those providing informal support to adolescents and (2) determine which demographic factors would act as the strongest predictor influencing their mental health literacy (MHL) status. The cross-sectional study recruited 867 parents, guardians, and teachers of adolescents from 24 government secondary schools’ parent–teacher associations via multistage stratified random sampling. Parents, guardians, and teachers’ MHL were evaluated using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule—Malay Version (MAKS-M). The collected data were analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-squared test to investigate the association between the respondents’ roles and responses. Multiple Regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of MHL. The score of MAKS-M for the current study sample is 73.03% (M = 43.82, SD = 4.07). Most respondents responded incorrectly on Items 1 (employment), 6 (help-seeking), 8 (stress), and 12 (grief). Teachers provided more favorable responses on several items than parents and guardians. Finally, younger age, higher income, knowing someone with mental disorders, and having experience of attending formal training on mental health first aid were the significant predictors of MHL. MHL interventions in Malaysia should cater to older adults of lower socioeconomic status and lesser experience in mental health, specifically highlighting the stigmas on mental health help-seeking behaviors, treatment, and employment concerns, plus the recognition of various mental health diagnoses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health Literacy)
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12 pages, 665 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness of a Co-Production with Dialogue Program for Reducing Stigma against Mental Illness: A Quasi-Experimental Study with a Pre- and Post-Test Design
by Eiichi Nakanishi, Masahiro Tamachi and Takeshi Hashimoto
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14333; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114333 - 2 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2570
Abstract
For people with mental illnesses, stigma represents a barrier to social participation. Health professionals, including students, often hold stigma toward such individuals, Further, people with a mental illness often have self-stigma. This study aimed to both develop and examine the effectiveness of a [...] Read more.
For people with mental illnesses, stigma represents a barrier to social participation. Health professionals, including students, often hold stigma toward such individuals, Further, people with a mental illness often have self-stigma. This study aimed to both develop and examine the effectiveness of a new program based on co-production with dialogue for reducing stigma among both health science students and people with mental illnesses. This was a quasi-experimental study, with a pre- and post-test design and no control group. The sample comprised 28 university students majoring in occupational therapy and 20 community-dwelling people with mental illnesses. The Co-Production with Dialogue Program for Reducing Stigma (CPD-RS) was administered to this sample. Link’s Devaluation Discrimination Scale (DDS) was used to assess whether the program reduced stigma. Compared to their preintervention scores, the students’ postintervention DDS scores significantly decreased, persisting for at least one month, but those of people with mental illnesses showed no significant change. Both the students and the people with mental illnesses evaluated the program as “positive” through a questionnaire administered two months after the intervention. These results suggest that the CPD-RS reduces health science students’ stigma toward people with mental illnesses and fosters mutual understanding between the two groups. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health Literacy)
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11 pages, 352 KiB  
Article
The Effectiveness of Mental Health Literacy Curriculum among Undergraduate Public Health Students
by Hsuan-Jung Lai, Yin-Ju Lien, Kai-Ren Chen and Yu-Kai Lin
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5269; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095269 - 26 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4062
Abstract
Mental health literacy (MHL) plays an important role in public health. Improving MHL can promote mental health at the individual and public levels. To date, no published studies have assessed the effectiveness of MHL curriculum interventions among undergraduate public health students. The participants [...] Read more.
Mental health literacy (MHL) plays an important role in public health. Improving MHL can promote mental health at the individual and public levels. To date, no published studies have assessed the effectiveness of MHL curriculum interventions among undergraduate public health students. The participants in this study were undergraduate public health students (n = 48) who were enrolled in an 18-week MHL curriculum for 100 min per week. MHL was assessed using the Mental Health Literacy Scale for Healthcare Students. A paired sample t-test was performed to examine the immediate and delayed effects of the MHL curriculum. The total MHL score significantly improved, and a moderate effect size was found directly after the intervention and six weeks later. There were significant differences in the recognition of mental illness (p < 0.01), help-seeking efficacy (p < 0.05), and help-seeking attitude (p < 0.05) in the five components of MHL between pre- and post-test. Furthermore, significant improvements were obtained for the maintenance of positive mental health (p < 0.05) and reduction of mental illness stigma (p < 0.001) between the pre-test and follow-up. Our findings provide evidence for the development and implementation of an MHL curriculum for public health education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health Literacy)

Review

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11 pages, 1182 KiB  
Review
Research on the Effect of Evidence-Based Intervention on Improving Students’ Mental Health Literacy Led by Ordinary Teachers: A Meta-Analysis
by Yuanyuan Liao, Moses Agyemang Ameyaw, Chen Liang and Weijian Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20020949 - 4 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3993
Abstract
Background: the purpose of this study was to systematically review the effects of intervention experiments led by ordinary teachers to improve students’ mental health literacy and to provide evidence-based research and new ideas for improving students’ mental health literacy. Methods: A systematic search [...] Read more.
Background: the purpose of this study was to systematically review the effects of intervention experiments led by ordinary teachers to improve students’ mental health literacy and to provide evidence-based research and new ideas for improving students’ mental health literacy. Methods: A systematic search using 5 English (Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCO, Springer Link) and 3 Chinese (CNKI, WanFang, and VIP) databases was initiated to identify controlled trials assessing the immediate effect and delay effect of the intervention experiment led by ordinary teachers on improving students’ mental health knowledge, anti-stigma, willingness, or behavior to seek-help. Results: a total of 14 experiments with 7873 subjects were included. The results showed that the immediate effect of the intervention on promoting students’ mental health knowledge [g = 0.622, 95% CI (0.395, 0.849)] and anti-stigma [g = 0.262, 95% CI (0.170, 0.354)] was significant, but the amount of delay effect is not significant. Conclusions: the results of this review show that ordinary classroom teachers can effectively participate in projects to improve students’ mental health literacy, significantly improve students’ mental health knowledge and attitudes towards psychological problems, and make up for the shortage of full-time mental health teachers in schools. In future, more attention should be paid to students’ mental health literacy, and evidence-based intervention research should be strengthened. Furthermore, we can improve students’ mental health literacy and avoid poor mental health by addressing delays in early intervention, as well as improve experimental design, prolong the intervention time, and improve the effectiveness of the intervention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health Literacy)
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