Population-level mental health literacy: A vignette-based study on prejudice, sexism, and recognition in prevention strategies for social anxiety in Ghana

Q2 Medicine

Mental Health and Prevention Pub Date : 2025-01-30 DOI:10.1016/j.mhp.2025.200406

Peter Adu , Dmitry Grigoryev , Rita Holm Adzovie , James Mbinta , G. Eric Jarvis , Tomas Jurcik

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Abstract

Objective

Mental Health Literacy (MHL) evidence on promoting mental health prevention at the population level in Ghana is limited. We explored factors, including, sociodemographic variables, prejudice, sexist attitudes, and previous experience of mental disorders, related to the endorsement of prevention strategies for social anxiety in Ghana.

Methods

A total of 601 individuals participated in an online vignette-based experimental study. Participants were randomly assigned to read two clinical vignettes, each presenting symptoms of social anxiety for a hypothetical person, one being male and the other female. Participants provided their impressions of the hypothetical person and completed self-reported measures, encompassing assessments related to ambivalent sexism, MHL, prejudice, and demographic factors.

Results

We found that recognition of the social anxiety in the vignettes directly associated with psychotherapeutic prevention strategies and indirectly predicted substance-related prevention strategies for social anxiety among the participants. Prejudice towards social anxiety was linked to increased recommendation of substance-related prevention strategies for social anxiety and less frequent endorsement of psychotherapeutic prevention strategies. Benevolence towards women was positively associated with stress-reduction preventive strategies for social anxiety, while benevolence towards men negatively impacted such strategies.

Conclusion

Findings underscore the significant role of Western views of mental health, and the harmful impact of prejudice on mental health, including the potential impact of cultural and contextual elements in shaping preventive approaches to mental disorders. Efforts to enhance MHL aimed at improving population-level mental health outcomes should prioritize the development of compassionate and culturally inclusive responses to mental health distress while also working to reduce stigma.

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