ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2023
Cross-cultural comparison of mental illness stigma and help-seeking attitudes: a multinational population-based study from 16 Arab countries and 10,036 individuals.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed.
- Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in mitigating depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among institutionalized patients with major depressive disorder: findings from a randomized controlled trial.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Trial
- Help-Seeking Self-Stigma and the Association Between Perceived Social Support and Psychological Distress Among Kuwait University Students: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Moderation Analysis.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with suicidal ideation among undergraduate nursing students: a cross-sectional study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Self-Reported Mental Health History and Self-Reported Coping Behaviours in Biomedicine Students-Exploring Associations with Healthy Lifestyle and Resilience.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Gender differences in attitudes toward mental illness: a cross-sectional study among the Saudi community in Jizan, Saudi Arabia.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2026Article
- Depression and Anxiety Symptoms and Public Stigma of Receiving Psychological Help: The Mediating Role of Anticipated Stigma at Work among Healthcare Workers.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Psychometric and qualitative assessment of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) among Syrian mental health and psychosocial support service users.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- Associations between immigration background, adverse childhood experiences, and depressive symptoms in adulthood in immigrants and descendants of immigrants in France: a mediation analysis.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the Awareness of Antidepressant Drug Usage Among the Population in Madinah: A Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2026Article
- Healthcare Professionals' Perspectives on Perinatal Mental Health Care in the United Arab Emirates: A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Facilitators at the Patient, Family, and Societal Levels.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- "International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Public attitudes and practices toward using AI chatbots for healthcare assistance: a multinational cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- A mediation model on how PTSD symptoms are related to psychotic experiences in survivors of the ongoing Gaza war 2023-2024.Conflict and health · 2025Article
- Mental Health and Mental Health Care in Iran: Addressing Social Inequalities.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Post-pandemic mental health: Understanding the global psychological burden and charting future research priorities.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Navigating mental health issues: exploring cultural causal attribution, stigmatization, and care recommendation behavior in Pakistani adolescents and young adults.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Are they looking for support? Mental health and trauma awareness as predictors of mental health help-seeking behaviour among young adults and adolescents in Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mental Health Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Primary Healthcare Physicians in Oman.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Development and validation of the help-seeking motivation scale for patients with schizophrenia(HSMS).BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Unraveling the stigma: a qualitative descriptive exploration of the relationship between culture, religion, and mental disorders in Saudi Arabia.BMC psychology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
31 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundThere is evidence that culture deeply affects beliefs about mental illnesses' causes, treatment, and help-seeking. We aimed to explore and compare knowledge, attitudes toward mental illness and help-seeking, causal attributions, and help-seeking recommendations for mental illnesses across various Arab countries and investigate factors related to attitudes toward help-seeking.
methodsWe carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries among participants from the general public.
resultsMore than one in four individuals exhibited stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness (26.5%), had poor knowledge (31.7%), and hold negative attitudes toward help-seeking (28.0%). ANOVA tests revealed a significant difference between countries regarding attitudes (F = 194.8, p < .001), knowledge (F = 88.7, p < .001), and help-seeking attitudes (F = 32.4, p < .001). Three multivariate regression analysis models were performed for overall sample, as well as Palestinian and Sudanese samples that displayed the lowest and highest ATSPPH-SF scores, respectively. In the overall sample, being female, older, having higher knowledge and more positive attitudes toward mental illness, and endorsing biomedical and psychosocial causations were associated with more favorable help-seeking attitudes; whereas having a family psychiatric history and endorsing religious/supernatural causations were associated with more negative help-seeking attitudes. The same results have been found in the Palestinian sample, while only stigma dimensions helped predict help-seeking attitudes in Sudanese participants.
conclusionInterventions aiming at improving help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and promoting early access to care need to be culturally tailored, and congruent with public beliefs about mental illnesses and their causations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.