FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY AMONG INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Background: Drastic change in life demands would lead to mounting pressures on university students during their education years, which further leads to deteriorating in mental health, leading to suicide in some cases. International students face even additional pressers of living away from family and home. Since students displayed lacking in mental health literacy like the rest of the society in previous studies, empowering the students starts with improving their literacy on mental health. This study aims to measure the international students’ mental health literacy, to pave the way for future education programs on mental health specially designed for the international students’ community.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among the international postgraduate students in a public university in Malaysia, using the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS). Variables were examined against the MHLS using mean-comparing formulas. Later, linear regression models used to predict the relationship between the MHLS score and the variables.

Result: A total of 153 student participated in this study. The mean MHLS for the students is 111.42 point. Most of the students were males, between 25 to 34 years old. Females students, and the students who mentioned being to mental health professionals for personal reasons or with loved ones (BMHP) had higher MHLS (p<0.05).

Conclusion: MHLS mean score came lower than two previous similar studies with comparable population. There is association between MHLS score and the variables Gender and BMHP.

Keywords: Mental health literacy, International university students.