Mental Health Repository

Mental illness stigma as a moderator in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslims from 16 Arab countries.

Journal: BMC public health

Volume: 23

Issue: 1

Year of Publication: 2023

Affiliated Institutions: Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia. feten.fekih@gmail.com. School of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia. Department of Psychology, Kuwait University, Kuwait, Kuwait. Psychology department, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Department of Psychology, Fayoum University, Faiyum, Egypt. Ministry of Health, Ministry of Health, Nouakchott, Mauritania. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza Strip, Palestine. College of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Department, Sulaiman AlRajhi University, Bukariyah, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon. Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Research in Health Sciences, Fez, Morocco. Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman, Jordan. Social and Education Sciences Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon. Department of Psychiatry Khobar, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, KSA, Saudi Arabia. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Behavioral Sciences Dep. A, Aden, Yemen. The National Centre of Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oran, Algeria. Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. School of Nursing, the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. Department of Psychology, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. Department of Psychiatry, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. Psychology Department, Sanaa University, Sanaa, Yemen. College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Behavioural Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Sebha Psychiatry Center, Sebha, Libya. Laboratorio de Neurociencias (LIM ), Faculdade de Medicina, Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, BR, Brazil. School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, P.O. Box , Lebanon. souheilhallit@hotmail.com.

Abstract summary

Determining the potential barriers responsible for delaying access to care, and elucidating pathways to early intervention should be a priority, especially in Arab countries where mental health resources are limited. To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the relationship between religiosity, stigma and help-seeking in an Arab Muslim cultural background. Hence, we propose in the present study to test the moderating role of stigma toward mental illness in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslim community people living in different Arab countries.The current survey is part of a large-scale multinational collaborative project (StIgma of Mental Problems in Arab CounTries [The IMPACT Project]). We carried-out a web-based cross-sectional, and multi-country study between June and November 2021. The final sample comprised 9782 Arab Muslim participants (mean age 29.67 ± 10.80 years, 77.1% females).Bivariate analyses showed that less stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness and higher religiosity levels were significantly associated with more favorable help-seeking attitudes. Moderation analyses revealed that the interaction religiosity by mental illness stigma was significantly associated with help-seeking attitudes (Beta = .005; p < .001); at low and moderate levels of stigma, higher religiosity was significantly associated with more favorable help-seeking attitudes.Our findings preliminarily suggest that mental illness stigma is a modifiable individual factor that seems to strengthen the direct positive effect of religiosity on help-seeking attitudes. This provides potential insights on possible anti-stigma interventions that might help overcome reluctance to counseling in highly religious Arab Muslim communities.

Authors & Co-authors: Fekih-Romdhane Feten F Daher-Nashif Suhad S Stambouli Manel M Alhuwailah Amthal A Helmy Mai M Shuwiekh Hanaa Ahmed Mohamed HAM Mohamed Lemine Cheikh Mohamed Fadel CMF Radwan Eqbal E Saquib Juliann J Saquib Nazmus N Fawaz Mirna M Zarrouq Btissame B Naser Abdallah Y AY Obeid Sahar S Saleh Maan M Haider Sanad S Miloud Lahmer L Badrasawi Manal M Hamdan-Mansour Ayman A Barbato Mariapaola M Motwakil Bakhiet Aisha A Khalil Najat Sayem NS Adawi Samir S Grein Fatheya F Loch Alexandre Andrade AA Cheour Majda M Hallit Souheil S

Study Outcome

Statistics

Citations : Gall TL, Malette J, Guirguis-Younger M. Spirituality and religiousness: a diversity of definitions. J Spirituality Mental Health. 2011;13(3):158–181.
Authors : 27

Identifiers

Doi : 1671
SSN : 1471-2458

Study Population

Female

Mesh Terms

Female

Other Terms

Arab countries;Help-seeking attitudes;Islam;Mental illness;Religiosity;Stigma

Study Design

Study Approach

Country of Study

Publication Country

England