Exploring mental health literacy and its intersection with help-seeking behaviours and gender in adolescents in the Western Cape.

Abstract

Background: Adolescent mental illness contributes significantly to both the global and South African burden of mental health. Mental health literacy (MHL) promotes early recognition and intervention and consequently, determines mental health-promoting behaviours. We aimed to explore adolescent MHL and its intersection with help-seeking behaviour and gender in adolescents in the Western Cape.Method: The study instrument was a self-report survey/questionnaire. One hundred learners from public and independent schools in the Western Cape completed the survey.Results: There was a significant difference between first aid skills and help-seeking behaviours between the different genders. Specifically, girls were more prone to first aid skills and help-seeking behaviours than boys and other genders. Boys, on the other hand, were significantly more prone to using self-help strategies than girls and other genders. While gender differences were evident, these results are not sufficient to generalise to the larger population due to the limited sample.Conclusion: The results of this study are relevant to practitioners who wish to improve MHL and help-seeking behaviours among adolescents.