Amarasuriya Santushi D, Jorm Anthony F, Reavley Nicola J
Behavioural Sciences Stream, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, 25, Kynsey Road, PO Box 271, Colombo 8, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, 207 Bouverie Street, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Melbourne, Australia.
BMC Psychiatry. 2015 Oct 30;15:269. doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0658-8.
The high rates of depression and low rates of related help-seeking among undergraduates are matters for concern. In response to the need to examine their knowledge about depression and its management, and the dearth of such research from non-western developing countries, this study examined the depression literacy of undergraduates in Sri Lanka.
A questionnaire was administered among 4671 undergraduates to examine their depression literacy relating to problem-recognition, measured using a vignette of a depressed undergraduate, and their treatment beliefs measured by assessing their perceptions about the helpfulness of various options of help for the presented problem. Responses for the latter aspect were quantified using a scale comprising the options of help endorsed by Sri Lankan mental health professionals. Regression analysis models were used to identify the correlates of these aspects of depression literacy.
Females, medical undergraduates and those in higher years of study (compared to first-years) were more likely to recognise the problem as depression. The undergraduates obtained a mean percentage score of 76% on the constructed Depression Treatment Beliefs Scale. Scores on this scale were higher among females, medical undergraduates, those who got help for the problem after trying to deal with it alone and those who recognised the problem as depression, as well as those who used other mental health-related labels for this purpose. Scores were lower among undergraduates in years 2-4 (compared to first-years), those with family or friends with the problem and those with higher stigma on a Social Distance Scale. However, the effect sizes of these relationships were small.
As factors such as gender, discipline, year of study, exposure to depression and stigma are associated with differences in the depression literacy of these undergraduates, concerning their ability to recognise the problem and their related treatment beliefs, these must be considered when designing related educational initiatives. Recognising the problem as depression or the use of other mental health-related labels is associated with better treatment beliefs as per expert consensus, indicating that such labelling could have value for appropriate help-seeking.
大学生中抑郁症发病率高且寻求相关帮助的比例低，这些问题令人担忧。为了满足研究他们对抑郁症及其治疗的了解的需求，同时鉴于非西方发展中国家缺乏此类研究，本研究调查了斯里兰卡大学生的抑郁素养。
对4671名大学生进行问卷调查，以考察他们对抑郁症的识别素养（通过一名抑郁大学生的案例 vignette 来衡量）以及他们的治疗观念（通过评估他们对针对所呈现问题的各种帮助选项的有效性的看法来衡量）。对于后一个方面的回答，使用由斯里兰卡心理健康专业人员认可的帮助选项组成的量表进行量化。回归分析模型用于确定抑郁素养这些方面的相关因素。
女性、医学专业大学生以及高年级学生（与一年级学生相比）更有可能将该问题识别为抑郁症。大学生在构建的抑郁治疗观念量表上的平均得分百分比为76%。该量表得分在女性、医学专业大学生、那些在独自尝试处理问题后寻求帮助的学生、那些将问题识别为抑郁症的学生以及那些为此使用其他心理健康相关标签的学生中更高。在2至4年级的大学生（与一年级学生相比）、有家人或朋友患有该问题的学生以及在社会距离量表上有较高耻辱感的学生中得分较低。然而，这些关系的效应量较小。
由于性别、学科、学习年份、接触抑郁症和耻辱感等因素与这些大学生在抑郁素养方面的差异有关，涉及他们识别问题的能力及其相关治疗观念，因此在设计相关教育举措时必须考虑这些因素。根据专家共识，将问题识别为抑郁症或使用其他心理健康相关标签与更好的治疗观念相关，这表明这种标签对于适当寻求帮助可能具有价值。
