Mental health literacy and attitudes towards schizophrenia and depression among University of Malta students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore University of Malta students’ schizophrenia and depression literacy. It also investigates attitudes towards mental health disorders among students attending the University of Malta. A quantitative approach was adopted while 158 respondents voluntarily chose to contribute to this study via convenience sampling. Data was gathered through an online anonymous questionnaire. The sample consisted of 79.1% (n = 125) female respondents and 19.6% (n = 31) male respondents. The median age was 20 while the mean age was that of 22.9 (SD = 7.33). Mann-Whitney U and Pearson’s correlation tests were conducted with the use of IBM SPSS 28 to test the study hypotheses. Findings demonstrated that there is a significant difference between attitudes towards individuals with schizophrenia vs. depression, specifically, more negative attitudes are attributed towards schizophrenia. In addition, lower levels of mental health literacy were associated with an increased likelihood of holding negative beliefs towards individuals with mental disorders. Efforts to increase mental health literacy among university students, particularly towards individuals with severe mental disorders are needed.