Attitudes towards people with mental health illness in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: a quantitative study

ABSTRACT

People with mental health illnesses are exposed to rejection by community members because of the negative attitudes from people towards them. This study assesses undergraduates’ attitudes towards people with mental health illness in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and compares their attitudes with socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender and academic field of study. A quantitative descriptive study design has been used for this research. A multistage cluster sampling was used for data collection between May to June 2019 from a sample of 361 undergraduate students. A modified version of the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) questionnaire was used for data collection. Undergraduate students from various fields of study have had different attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. Medical students have better understanding and more positive attitudes than students of the other fields. Male students showed more negative attitudes compared to female students. Furthermore, younger students had more negative attitudes than older students.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitudes
• mental illness
• Kurdistan region of Iraq
• stigma
• mental health literacy

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the students who participated in our study and the Research Center at the University of Garmian for facilitating and supporting us in this study.

Authors contribution

NQA has done the data collection; PS has done the data analysis; NQA, DJ, and PS have contributed equally in writing the current study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors have not received any funding for this study.

Notes on contributors

Nazdar Qudrat Abas

Nazdar Qudrat Abas, MSc. Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, is director of Gender Equality Center a Lecturer at Psychology Department, University of Garmian, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her area of focus includes mental health of forcibly displaced persons, minorities and women.

Dilshad Jaff

Dilshad Jaff, MD, MPH, is a program coordinator for solutions to complex emergencies with the Gillings School’s Research, Innovation and Global Solutions unit, as well as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health. He is an expert in complex humanitarian crises and conflict resolution.

Pegah Seidi

Pegah Seidi, Ph.D. General Psychology, is a lecturer at the university of Garmian, and a psychotherapist at the Garmian Medical City. Her focus areas are family health, women health, adolescence and children. Her research interests are mainly anxiety disorders, mental health of forcibly displaced persons, and students’ health.