Mental health literacy of depression and suicide among students

Kao važan aspekt mentalnog zdravlja izdvaja se konstrukt mentalno zdravstvene pismenosti koji se definira kao skup znanja i vjerovanja o mentalnim poremećajima koja pomažu prepoznavanju, upravljanju ili sprječavanju istih (Jorm i sur., 1997). Ovaj diplomski rad se bavi pitanjem mentalno zdravstvene pismenosti studenata u području depresivnosti i suicidalnosti (N=565), a temelji se na rezultatima istraživanja Mustaffa i suradnika (2014) koji izvještavaju o postojanju umjereno značajne pozitivne korelacije između razine suicidalnih ideja i depresije. Od mjernih instrumenata, koristio se Upitnik zdravstvene pismenosti u području mentalnog zdravlja djece i mladih, a od postojećih vinjeta, za svrhu istraživanja korištene su Vinjeta Depresivnosti i Suicidalnosti. Prosječna dob studenata iznosi 22,04 godine, a sami uzorak prevladava u korist žena (N=486). Rezultati su prikupljeni kratkom online anketom, a ukazuju na slijedeće: studenti općenito bolje i točnije prepoznaju depresivnost od suicidalnosti, pri čemu su studentice točnije u prepoznavanju od studenata. Govoreći o stupnju obrazovanja, najtočnije prepoznavanje pokazuju studenti koji pohađaju prvu godinu diplomskog studija, a govoreći o smjeru obrazovanja tu prednjače studenti iz područja biomedicine i zdravstva te humanističkih znanosti. Zanimljiv i neočekivan nalaz je da studenti koji nemaju prethodno iskustvo sličnog ili istog problema točnije prepoznaju problematiku. Nadalje, studenti koji imaju niže razine mentalno zdravstvene pismenosti pokazuju veće rezultate na skali stigmatizacije. Na koncu, studenti koji ne bi i oni koji nisu sigurni bi li potražili pomoć da doživljavaju sličan ili isti problem kao osoba u vinjeti, pokazuju veće rezultate na skali stigmatizacije nego oni koji bi tražili pomoć u istoj situaciji. Zaključno, dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na potrebu osmišljavanja programa edukacije kako bi se razbile stigmatizacije i povećala mentalno zdravstvena pismenost kako studentske, tako i opće populacije.An important aspect of mental health is the construct of mental health literacy, which is defined as a set of knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders that help recognize, manage or prevent them (Jorm et al., 1997). This graduate thesis deals with the issue of mental health literacy of students in the area of depression and suicidality (N=565), and it’s based on the results of research by Mustaff and colleagues (2014), who report the existence of a moderately significant positive correlation between the level of suicidal ideation and depression. Of the measuring instruments, the Health Literacy Questionnaire in the field of mental health of children and young people was used, and of the existing vignettes, the Depression and Suicidality Vignettes were used for the purpose of the research. The average age of the students is 22.04 years, and the sample itself predominates in favor of women (N=486). The results were collected through a short online survey, and indicate the following: students generally recognize depression better and more accurately than suicidality, with female students being more accurate in their recognition than male students. Speaking about the level of education, the most accurate recognition is shown by students attending the first year of graduate studies, and speakingabout the direction of education, students from the fields of biomedicine and health and humanities lead the way. An interesting and unexpected finding is that students who have no previous experience of a similar or the same problem recognize the problem more accurately. Furthermore, students who have lower levels of mental health literacy show higher scores on the stigma scale. Finally, students who would not and those who are not sure whether they would seek help if they were experiencing a similar or the same problem as the person in the vignette, show higher scores on the stigmatization scale than those who would seek help in the same situation. In conclusion, the obtained results indicate the need to design an education program in order to break stigmas and increase mental health literacy of both the student and general population