Dynamics of Mental Health Literacy Among the Academic Staff: A Developing Country Perspective

Universities are ideal locations for improving Mental Health Literacy and academic staff can play vital role in guiding students about mental health. However, there is scarcity of research on Mental Health Literacy in universities of Pakistan, thus indicating research gap. This research assesses faculty members’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward mental health. It also examines roles and capacities of faculty members in guiding students about mental health. Finally, it will examine relationship between demographic characteristics and Mental Health Literacy. A cross-sectional design was used. Population consisted of 441 academic staff of universities of Pakistan. A sample of 251 was obtained through Stratified Radom Sampling. Data was collected through “self-administered online questionnaire” and analyzed through descriptive statistics and Multivariate Linear Regression models. Academic staff had moderate level of knowledge about mental illnesses. They had moderate beliefs and attitudes regarding mental illness, and had played mild roles in promoting mental health among students