Sex differences in beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness: An examination of mental health literacy in a community sample

Background: The current study investigated mental health literacy in an Australian sample to examine the influence sex has in the identification of and attitudes towards various aspects of mental illness. Methods: An online questionnaire was completed by 373 participants (267 female, M = 34.87). Participants were randomly assigned a vignette depicting an individual exhibiting the symptoms of one of three types of mental illness and asked to answer questions relating to aspects of mental health literacy. Results: Males exhibited poorer mental health literacy skills compared to females. Males were less likely to correctly identify the type of mental illness, more likely to rate symptoms as less serious and to perceive the individual as having greater personal control over such symptoms. Conclusions: Generally, the sample was relatively proficient at correctly identifying mental illness but overall males displayed poorer mental health literacy skills than females. (Abstract from published manuscript https://peerj.com/preprints/965v1/).

背景：本研究以澳大利亚人群为受试样本开展心理健康素养（mental health literacy）相关调查，旨在探讨性别对个体识别各类精神疾病、以及对精神疾病所持态度的影响。
方法：本研究共招募373名受试者完成线上问卷，其中267名为女性，受试者平均年龄为34.87岁（M=34.87）。所有受试者被随机分配阅读一则描述个体表现出三种精神疾病中某一种症状的情境小故事（vignette），并需回答与心理健康素养相关的问题。
结果：相较于女性受试者，男性受试者的心理健康素养水平相对更低。具体表现为：男性更难准确识别所患精神疾病的类型，更倾向于认为相关症状严重程度更低，且认为个体对自身症状拥有更强的个人掌控力。
结论：总体而言，本次受试样本能够较为准确地识别精神疾病，但整体上男性的心理健康素养水平仍低于女性。（本摘要节选自已发表手稿https://peerj.com/preprints/965v1/）