Attitudes toward mental illness, mentally ill persons, and help-seeking among the Saudi public and sociodemographic correlates

Figures & data

Table 1 Personal characteristics and experience with mental illness

	n	%
Sex
Male	340	53.0
Female	302	47.0
Age group, years
15–24	216	33.6
25–39	345	53.7
40–59	76	11.8
≥60	5	0.9
Marital status
Single	349	54.4
Married	287	44.7
Divorced	4	0.6
Widowed	2	0.3
Educational level
Illiterate	1	0.2
Primary	9	1.4
Intermediate	18	2.8
Secondary	167	26.0
Higher education	447	69.6
Occupation
Employed	399	62.2
Unemployed	242	37.8
Residence
Urban	617	96.1
Rural	25	3.9
Monthly income
<SR5,000 (<US$1,300]	223	34.8
SR5,000–10,000 ($1,300–$2,600)	210	32.8
>SR10,000 (>$2,600]	208	32.4
Personal experiences with mental illness
Have you ever talked to a psychiatric patient?
Yes	367	57.3
No	274	42.7
Have you ever met a psychiatric patient?
Yes	435	67.8
No	207	32.2
Have you ever worked with a psychiatric patient?
Yes	203	31.7
No	438	68.3
Are you a caregiver to someone who is mentally ill?
Yes	69	10.7
No	573	89.3
How familiar are you with mental health services available in
Saudi Arabia?
A good deal	89	13.9
A little	319	49.7
None	234	36.4

Table 2 Participants’ knowledge about causes of mental illness

	Response
	Yes		No		Do not know
	n	%	n	%	n	%
1. Mental illness is caused by genetic inheritance.	226	35.2	213	33.2	203	31.6
2. Mental illness is caused by substance abuse.	504	78.5	54	8.4	84	13.1
3. Mental illness is caused by bad things happening to you.	560	87.2	27	4.2	55	8.6
4. Mental illness is God’s punishment.	211	32.9	181	28.2	250	38.9
5. Mental illness is caused by brain disease.	347	54.0	108	16.8	187	29.2
6. Mental illness is caused by a personal weakness.	365	56.9	137	21.3	140	21.8
7. Poverty can be the cause of mental illness.	363	56.5	145	22.6	134	20.9
8. Mental illness is caused by spirits.	247	38.5	212	33.0	138	28.5
	Level of knowledge
	Good		Poor		PMS
	n (%)		n (%)
Male	31 (9.1)		309 (90.9)		42.68±19.02
Female	47 (15.6)		255 (84.4)		47.64±20.74
Total	78 (12.1)		564 (87.9)		45.02±19.98
	χ^2=6.23, P= 0.01				t=3.16, P=0.002

Abbreviation: PMS, percentage mean score.

Table 3 Saudi public perceptions and attitudes toward mental illness and mental health help-seeking

Perceptions toward mentally ill people	SA	AG	NS	DA	SD
	%	%	%	%	%
1. People with mental health problems are largely to blame for their own condition.	27.9	44.5	19.3	7.5	0.8
2. One can always tell a mentally ill person by his or her physical appearance.	14.2	36.0	13.6	30.8	5.4
3. Mentally ill persons are not capable of true friendships.	16.7	34.9	18.7	24.1	5.6
4. Mentally ill persons can work.	9.0	20.1	16.4	44.2	10.3
5. Mentally ill persons are usually dangerous.	19.2	31.0	35.4	10.7	3.7
6. Anyone can suffer from a mental illness.	17.1	29.3	29.8	18.4	5.5
7. Mentally ill people are crazy.	19.3	28.7	34.7	9.0	8.3
Attitudes toward mental illness
People with mental illness
1. The mentally ill should not be allowed to make decisions, even those concerning routine events.	7.6	16.7	26.5	37.7	11.5
2. I would be afraid to have a conversation with a mentally ill person.	5.3	16.4	30.4	34.3	13.6
3. People with mental health illnesses should have the same rights as anyone else.	34.9	27.4	30.2	5.9	1.6
4. If I was suffering from a mental health illness, I would not want people to know about it.	14.8	32.7	30.8	17.8	3.9
5. One should avoid all contact with the mentally ill.	5.5	10.9	19.9	41.1	22.6
6. I could maintain a friendship with someone with a mental illness.	19.2	38.3	33.3	7.0	2.2
7. I would be upset or disturbed about working on the same job as a mentally ill person.	5.3	15.3	41.3	29.8	8.4
8. People are generally caring and sympathetic toward people with mental illness.	15.0	32.4	33.5	14.3	4.8
9. The mentally ill should be prevented from having children.	8.3	16.1	20.4	37.9	17.3
10. The mentally ill should not get married.	7.8	16.4	25.7	34.1	16.0
11. I could marry someone with a mental illness.	5.1	17.8	39.3	25.5	12.3
12. I would be ashamed if people knew that someone in my family had been diagnosed with a mental illness.	6.2	14.5	30.5	29.4	19.4
13. One should hide his/her mental illness from his/her family.	4.4	11.4	29.3	30.4	24.5
14. If I was concerned about a mental health issue with a member of my family or myself, I would feel comfortable discussing it with someone at my PHCP.	24.5	33.8	34.4	5.3	2.0
Care and treatment of mental illness
15. Information about mental illness is available at my PHCP.	8.6	16.7	51.2	14.3	9.2
16. PHC clinics can provide good care for mental illnesses.	4.7	17.9	53.2	15.3	8.9
17. There are mental health services available in my community.	7.6	26.5	42.1	15.1	8.7
18. There are sufficient existing services for the mentally ill.	9.0	19.3	37.9	25.1	8.7
19. Mental illness cannot be cured.	4.2	8.9	34.0	28.2	26.7
20. The majority of people with mental illnesses recover.	12.9	31.0	47.5	7.3	1.3
21. Mental illness can be treated outside a hospital.	17.3	35.2	39.3	5.8	2.4
22. Mental hospitals are an outdated means of treating the mentally ill.	18.7	21.8	43.9	12.1	3.5
23. Mentally ill people should be in an institution where they are under supervision and control.	11.4	15.1	32.9	28.4	12.2
Attitudes toward mental health help-seeking
1. People with mental illness usually seek professional help at mental health services.	18.2	26.8	32.1	19.2	3.7
2. I would go for professional help in the case of a serious emotional problem.	14.8	28.7	36.3	16.2	4.0
3. I would feel comfortable talking about personal problems with a professional.	19.2	31.0	35.4	10.7	3.7
4. I would be embarrassed if my friends knew I was getting professional help for an emotional problem.	17.1	29.3	29.8	18.4	5.4
5. I would perceive professional help as effective.	19.3	28.7	34.7	9.0	8.3
6. People with mental illness usually seek professional help at mental health services.	18.2	26.8	32.1	19.2	3.7

Abbreviations: AG, agree; DA, disagree; NS, not sure; PHCP, primary health care provider; SA, strongly agree; SD, strongly disagree.

Table 4 Perceptions and attitudes toward mental health among Saudis

	Positive	Neutral	Negative	PMS
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Perceptions toward people with mental illness
Male	7 (2.1)	127 (37.4)	206 (60.5)	59.48±8.59
Female	5 (1.7)	124 (41.1)	173 (57.2)	60.08±9.77
Total	12 (1.9)	251 (39.1)	379 (59.0)	59.76±9.16
	χ^2=0.99, P=0.61			t=0.82, P=0.41
Attitudes to mental illness
Male	1 (0.3)	128 (38.0)	2.8 (61.7)	66.84±7.66
Female	0 (0.0)	85 (28.2)	216 (71.8)	64.76±7.75
Total	1 (0.2)	213 (33.4)	424 (66.4)	65.86±7.77
	χ^2=7.83, P=0.02			t=3.39, P<0.001
Attitudes to help-seeking
Male	21 (6.2)	165 (48.5)	154 (45.3)	63.34±9.18
Female	11 (3.6)	95 (31.5)	196 (64.9)	61.44±7.65
Total	32 (5.0)	260 (40.5)	350 (54.5)	62.45±8.54
	χ^2=24.85, P<0.001			t=2.85, P=0.004

Abbreviations: PMS, percentage mean score.

Table 5 Multiple regression analyses of predictors of knowledge about and attitudes toward mental illness (MI) and mental health help-seeking (HS)

	Knowledge		Perception		Attitudes to MI		Attitudes to HS
	t	P-value	t	P-value	t	P-value	t	P-value
Constant	9.55	<0.001	32.10	<0.001	38.794	<0.001	37.26	<0.001
Sex (male = 1)	−0.62	0.54	−1.04	0.30	1.14	0.26	−2.72	0.007a
Single vs married	−3.12	0.002a	−0.53	0.60	2.93	0.003a	2.20	0.03a
Secondary or less vs higher education	1.06	0.29	−0.09	0.93	1.85	0.07	−0.45	0.65
Employed vs unemployed	−1.24	0.22	−0.93	0.36	1.44	0.15	3.05	0.002a
Monthly income	0.13	0.90	−0.27	0.79	0.96	0.34	2.79	0.005a
Previous experience with mentally ill (yes = 1)	2.69	0.007a	1.24	0.22	−0.09	0.93	−0.27	0.79

Note:

a Statistical significance.