Promoting early-intervention for suicide prevention: The role of mental health literacy and attitudes towards suicide: A quantitative study in Ireland.

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q1 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Health Policy Pub Date : 2024-08-31 DOI:10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105150

McBride Thomás , McBride Ciara , McHugh Laura , Burns Richéal

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Suicide is a global public health issue which has far-reaching impacts on individuals, families, and wider communities. Early intervention is a core pillar of policy on the prevention of suicide related deaths. However, limited mental health literacy, and negative attitudes regarding mental illness amongst the public are a barrier to early intervention. Past research has not explored mental health literacy and attitudes regarding suicide specifically. The aim of the current study was to examine mental health literacy and attitudes towards suicide in adults. 590 adults in Ireland aged 18-80 years (M = 43.24, SD = 12.6) took part in this online cross-sectional study, completing the Mental Health Literacy Scale and The Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale. Experience of suicide deaths was common among participants. Independent t-tests indicated that males had significantly lower levels of mental health literacy and more stigmatising attitudes towards suicide than females. Young adults also had lower ability to recognise mental health difficulties than older adults. Hierarchical Multiple Regressions found that mental health literacy significantly accounted for varied attitudes towards suicide in adults, particularly willingness to communicate about suicide, and beliefs that suicide is preventable. Findings are discussed in the context of informing policy-makers who are promoting early-intervention for suicide prevention.

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促进早期干预，预防自杀：心理健康知识和自杀态度的作用：爱尔兰的一项定量研究。

自杀是一个全球性的公共健康问题，对个人、家庭和更广泛的社区有着深远的影响。早期干预是预防自杀相关死亡政策的核心支柱。然而，公众有限的心理健康知识和对精神疾病的消极态度是早期干预的障碍。以往的研究并没有专门探讨心理健康知识和对自杀的态度。本研究旨在调查成年人的心理健康素养和对自杀的态度。爱尔兰 590 名 18-80 岁的成年人（中位数 = 43.24，标准差 = 12.6）参加了这项在线横断面研究，并填写了心理健康素养量表和自杀态度量表。参与者普遍有过自杀死亡的经历。独立 t 检验表明，与女性相比，男性的心理健康知识水平明显较低，对自杀的鄙视态度也更严重。年轻人识别心理健康问题的能力也低于老年人。层次多元回归法发现，心理健康素养在很大程度上影响了成年人对自杀的不同态度，尤其是对自杀问题进行沟通的意愿，以及认为自杀是可以预防的信念。研究结果将在为政策制定者提供信息的背景下进行讨论，这些政策制定者正在推动早期干预以预防自杀。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health Policy 医学-卫生保健

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

6.10%

发文量

157

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Health Policy is intended to be a vehicle for the exploration and discussion of health policy and health system issues and is aimed in particular at enhancing communication between health policy and system researchers, legislators, decision-makers and professionals concerned with developing, implementing, and analysing health policy, health systems and health care reforms, primarily in high-income countries outside the U.S.A.