Beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness: an examination of the sex differences in mental health literacy in a community sample

Thesis Abstract

                        Abstract

The study was conducted to find out beliefs of adults regarding mental illness in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. Seven specific objectives were formulated with seven corresponding research questions and three null hypotheses were also postulated to guide the study. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study was seventy thousand two hundred and thirty four adults while the sample for the study consisted of four hundred adults. A five sectioned researcher designed questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The instrument was validated by five experts form the Department of Health and Physical Education and Educational Psychology Department University of Nigeria. Spilt half method using Cronbach Alpha statistic was utilized to establish the internal consistency of the instrument with a reliability index of.75. Percentages and means were utilized for answering research questions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and student t-Test statistic were used to test the hypotheses. The results of the study showed that adults of different age groups, male and female adults and adults with different levels of education had positive beliefs towards the various dimensions of mental illness. Majority of the respondents indicated yes to prevention strategies regarding mental illness. There was no significant difference in the beliefs regarding the concept of mental illness, beliefs regarding the causes of mental illness and beliefs regarding the symptoms of mental illness according to age. There was no significant difference in the beliefs regarding the concept of mental illness, beliefs regarding the causes of mental illness and beliefs regarding the symptoms of mental illness according to gender. There was significant different in the beliefs of adults regarding mental illness according to level of education. Based on the findings, recommendations were made among which include that Government and voluntary health agencies should sponsor enlightenment campaigns through the print and electronic media in order to sustain the positive beliefs regarding mental illness.