Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study
Background: Mental health literacy (MHL) is one of the crucial factors in the prevention and maintenance of youth mental health. Despite this fact, there is limited research on MHL in this age group. Aim: To determine the MHL in a sample of secondary schoolgoing learners. Setting: Five schools in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2025-04-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/2349 |
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| author | Dumisile P. Madlala Pierre Joubert Oratilwe P. Mokoena |
| author_facet | Dumisile P. Madlala Pierre Joubert Oratilwe P. Mokoena |
| author_sort | Dumisile P. Madlala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Mental health literacy (MHL) is one of the crucial factors in the prevention and maintenance of youth mental health. Despite this fact, there is limited research on MHL in this age group.
Aim: To determine the MHL in a sample of secondary schoolgoing learners.
Setting: Five schools in Tshwane, South Africa.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was done. Three fictive vignettes depicting individuals having symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), substance-induced psychotic disorder (SIPD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) were presented to participants. The ability to recognise the disorder, knowledge of the best form of help to address the symptoms, and the ability to provide psychological first aid support were assessed. A comparison of MHL between township school learners and urban school learners was conducted. The association between MHL and demographic factors was also assessed.
Results: The ability to recognise symptoms and connect them to a particular disorder was high (80.71% for MDD, 61.96% for SIPD and 67.91% for SAD). Correct knowledge on who would best address the symptoms was 52.55% for MDD, 63.83% for SIPD and 23.86% for SAD with a sizable number choosing informal help for the cases of MDD and SAD. There was good psychological first aid knowledge for both MDD and SIPD cases but poor for SAD case.
Conclusion: Even though the results are promising regarding the recognition of all three disorders, there is still room for improving MHL in this group, especially in the areas of help-seeking and knowledge about anxiety disorders in general.
Contribution: The findings highlight key areas of focus during mental health awareness campaigns to learners. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e5afcc08f22d46008e29a229e1abc738 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1608-9685 2078-6786 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-e5afcc08f22d46008e29a229e1abc7382025-08-20T02:14:06ZengAOSISSouth African Journal of Psychiatry1608-96852078-67862025-04-01310e1e910.4102/sajpsychiatry.v31i0.2349768Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative studyDumisile P. Madlala0Pierre Joubert1Oratilwe P. Mokoena2Department of Health, Faculty of Science, Tshwane District mental health services, TshwaneDepartment of Health, Faculty of Science, University of Pretoria, TshwaneDepartment of Statistics, Faculty of Sciences, Sefako Makgatho University, TshwaneBackground: Mental health literacy (MHL) is one of the crucial factors in the prevention and maintenance of youth mental health. Despite this fact, there is limited research on MHL in this age group. Aim: To determine the MHL in a sample of secondary schoolgoing learners. Setting: Five schools in Tshwane, South Africa. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was done. Three fictive vignettes depicting individuals having symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), substance-induced psychotic disorder (SIPD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) were presented to participants. The ability to recognise the disorder, knowledge of the best form of help to address the symptoms, and the ability to provide psychological first aid support were assessed. A comparison of MHL between township school learners and urban school learners was conducted. The association between MHL and demographic factors was also assessed. Results: The ability to recognise symptoms and connect them to a particular disorder was high (80.71% for MDD, 61.96% for SIPD and 67.91% for SAD). Correct knowledge on who would best address the symptoms was 52.55% for MDD, 63.83% for SIPD and 23.86% for SAD with a sizable number choosing informal help for the cases of MDD and SAD. There was good psychological first aid knowledge for both MDD and SIPD cases but poor for SAD case. Conclusion: Even though the results are promising regarding the recognition of all three disorders, there is still room for improving MHL in this group, especially in the areas of help-seeking and knowledge about anxiety disorders in general. Contribution: The findings highlight key areas of focus during mental health awareness campaigns to learners.https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/2349mental health literacylearners mental health literacyschool learnerstshwanesouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Dumisile P. Madlala Pierre Joubert Oratilwe P. Mokoena Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study South African Journal of Psychiatry mental health literacy learners mental health literacy school learners tshwane south africa |
| title | Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study |
| title_full | Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study |
| title_fullStr | Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study |
| title_short | Mental health literacy among secondary school learners in Tshwane region 1: A quantitative study |
| title_sort | mental health literacy among secondary school learners in tshwane region 1 a quantitative study |
| topic | mental health literacy learners mental health literacy school learners tshwane south africa |
| url | https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/2349 |
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