Exploring awareness, attitude, and practices toward mental illnesses: A cross-sectional survey among university students in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND

Mental illness is a serious condition requiring early intervention. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and stigma toward mental illness among university students in Saudi Arabia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted during the academic year 2018-2019 in a university in Saudi Arabia. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select students ( = 778). A standardized self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.

RESULTS

The students had an adequate level of knowledge on mental illness (44.1%), and almost half of them had a positive attitude (52.2%) toward mental illness. The female students (55.9%) exhibited a significantly higher positive attitude than the males (48.4%) ( = 0.038). The students' knowledge level increased significantly with an increase in the academic year ( = 0.010). The students from urban places showed a significantly higher knowledge level (50.5%) than those from the rural areas (40.5%) ( = 0.007). The students from health-related colleges (59.7%) showed higher positive attitudes, but without statistical significance ( = 0.104) than those from other colleges. The female gender (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.88, = 0.020) was an important factor associated with positive attitudes. The important independent predictors of adequate mental illness knowledge were living in urban places (OR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.09-1.98, = 0.012) and studying in the sixth year (OR = 2.1, 95% CI, 1.1-3.9, = 0.028).

CONCLUSIONS

Although students showed a favorable attitude toward mental illness, their knowledge level can be improved. Research outcomes can be used to design health educational interventions to enhance university students' mental health literacy.