Mental Health Literacy Among University Students in Croatia

Pomanjkljivo znanje, stigma in diskriminacija so razlogi, zakaj težave v duševnem zdravju doživljamo drugače kot težave s telesnim zdravjem (Rickwood, Deane, Wilson in Ciarrochi, 2005). Zaradi tega, smo se v magistarski nalogi odločili raziskati stopnjo pismenosti o duševnem zdravju med populacijo študentov na Hrvaškem. Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti stopnjo pismenosti o duševnem zdravju v povezavi z nekaterimi socio-demografskimi spremenljivkami, preverjali smo odnos med osamljenostjo in depresivnostjo v povezavi s pismenostjo o duševnem zdravju. V naši raziskavi je sodelovalo 317 oseb, ki študirajo na 21. univerzah na Hrvaškem. Povprečna starost udeležencev je bila 22,46 let. Za merjenje smo uporabili Lestvico pismenosti o duševnem zdravju, De Jong Gierveld lestvico emocionalne in socialne osamljenosti in WHO-5 index dobrega počutja. Ugotovili smo, da so študenti v določeni meri precenili svojo pismenost o duševnem zdravju, kar so potrdili rezultati. Ugotovili smo, da študenti nezdravstvenih študijskih smeri (Inženiring, Pravo in Ekonomija in management) slabše prepoznavajo duševne motnje, imajo pomanjkljivo znanje o iskanju informacij o duševnih motnjah in izražajo negativna stališča do iskanja pomoči. Potrdili smo, da je višja stopnja pismenosti o duševnem zdravju povezana z ženskim spolom, prisotnostjo izkušenj s težavami v duševnem zdravju in zdravstveno študijsko usmeritvijo.Lack of knowledge, stigma, and discrimination are the reasons why mental health problems are experienced differently than physical health problems (Rickwood, Deane, Wilson, & Ciarrochi, 2005). Therefore, we decided to investigate the level of mental health literacy among the student population in Croatia. The purpose of the study was to determine the level of mental health literacy in correlation to some socio-demographic variables. Moreover, we examined the connection between loneliness and depression in relation to mental health literacy. Our research involved 317 people studying at 21 universities in Croatia. The average age of the participants was 22,46 years. To measure our research hypotheses, we used Mental Health Literacy Scale, the De Jong Gierveld Emotional and Social Loneliness Scale, and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Reasearch results showed that to some extent students overestimated their mental health literacy. Furthermore, students in non-medical fields of study (Engineering, Law, Economics and management) were less able to recognize metal disorders, had a lack of knowledge about finding information about metal health disorders, and expressed negative attitude about seeking help. We confirmed that a higher level of mental health literacy is associated with female gender, the presence of experience with mental health problems, and a health study orientation