Mental health literacy among high school graduates

Temeljni cilj ovog diplomskog rada je upoznati i razumjeti područje mentalno-zdravstvene pismenosti adolescenata u Hrvatskoj, uvidom u karakteristike te stupanj mentalno-zdravstvene pismenost maturanata grada Našica. Specifični ciljevi se odnose na ispitivanje prepoznavanja problema, stavova o traženju pomoći, intervencija prve pomoći te iskustva mentalnih problema. Također, ispitivalo se postojanje razlika u prepoznavanju problema i traženju pomoći s obzirom na vlastito iskustvo mentalnih problema. Istraživanje je provedeno putem online upitnika postavljenog u programu LimeSurvey, koji je bio aktivan od 15. svibnja 2020. do 29. svibnja 2020. godine. Prigodni uzorak činilo je 79 maturanata srednje škole Isidora Kršnjavoga u Našicama. Za procjenu mentalno-zdravstvene pismenosti upotrijebljen je Upitnik zdravstvene pismenosti u području mentalnoga zdravlja djece i mladih (Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire – MHL), autora prof. Antonyja Jorma. Hrvatsku verziju upitnika preveo je i prilagodio Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo za potrebe istraživanja zdravstvene pismenosti odgojno-obrazovnih djelatnika u području mentalnoga zdravlja. Upitnik upotrijebljen u ovom istraživanju je temeljen na vinjetnoj istraživačkoj metodologiji koja opisuje probleme socijalne fobije i depresivnosti. Rezultati su pokazali da maturanti uključeni u istraživanje u većoj mjeri bolje i točnije prepoznaju probleme depresivnosti dok je za vinjete socijalne fobije utvrđen manji stupanj točnog prepoznavanja tog problema. Sudionici su skloni tražiti pomoć kod neformalnih izvora pomoći (prijatelja i obitelji) za probleme depresivnosti i socijalne fobije. Slušanje s pozornošću, poticanje društva da razvesele osobu te poticanje osobe tjelesnu aktivnost su načini pomoći koje smatraju korisnima, ukoliko bi njima bliska osoba imala isti problem kao u vinjeti. Veći udio sudionika navodi postojanje vlastitog iskustva problema socijalne fobije, nego problema depresivnosti. Nije se pokazala statistički značajna razlika u prepoznavanju problema i traženju pomoći s obzirom na vlastito iskustvo mentalnih problema.The basic aim of this paper is to get to know and understand the field of mental health literacy of adolescents in Croatia, with insight into the characteristics and level of mental health literacy among high school graduates in the city of Našice. Specific objectives relate to examining problem recognition, help-seeking attitudes, first aid interventions, and personal experiences of mental disorders, as well as to examine the differences in recognizing problems and seeking help with respect to personal experience of mental disorders. The research was conducted through an online questionnaire set up in the LimeSurvey program, which was active from May 15, 2020, to May 29, 2020. The convenience sampling consisted of 79 high school graduates from Isidora Kršnjavi in Našice. Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHL), developed by prof. Anthony Jorm was used for the assessment of mental health literacy. The Croatian version of the questionnaire was translated and adapted by the Croatian Institute of Public Health for the purpose of researching mental health literacy among educators. The questionnaire used in this research is based on a vignette research methodology that describes the problems of social phobia and depression. The results showed a higher recognition of depression than a social phobia. Participants tend to seek help from informal sources of help (friends and family) for both depression and social phobia. Listening attentively, encouraging a group of friends to cheer a person up, and encouraging a person to be physically active are ways they find helpful if a person they are close with has the same problem as the person in the vignette. Higher rates for personal experience of mental disorders were recoded for social phobia than depression. There was no statistically significant difference in recognizing the problem and seeking help with respect to personal experience of mental problems