Version 1
: Received: 17 September 2024 / Approved: 17 September 2024 / Online: 17 September 2024 (12:14:25 CEST)
How to cite:
Browning, L.; Oska, N.; Kidess, G.; Hinchey, L.; Saleem, A.; Knill, S.; Elhage, M.; Javanbakht, A. Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of an Arab American Community: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology. Preprints2024, 2024091319. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1319.v1
Browning, L.; Oska, N.; Kidess, G.; Hinchey, L.; Saleem, A.; Knill, S.; Elhage, M.; Javanbakht, A. Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of an Arab American Community: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology. Preprints 2024, 2024091319. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1319.v1
Browning, L.; Oska, N.; Kidess, G.; Hinchey, L.; Saleem, A.; Knill, S.; Elhage, M.; Javanbakht, A. Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of an Arab American Community: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology. Preprints2024, 2024091319. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1319.v1
APA Style
Browning, L., Oska, N., Kidess, G., Hinchey, L., Saleem, A., Knill, S., Elhage, M., & Javanbakht, A. (2024). Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of an Arab American Community: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1319.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Browning, L., Malaak Elhage and Arash Javanbakht. 2024 "Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of an Arab American Community: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1319.v1
Abstract
Purpose: Arab Americans are one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. The mental health of Arab Americans and opinions on mental health, however, remain understudied despite higher rates of mental illness and lower rates of treatment. Unique cultural conceptualizations of mental illness may generate stigma, contributing to disparities in treatment. This study aimed to assess the attitudes and perspectives of Arab Americans regarding mental illness in order to address barriers to treatment.Methods:Using an anonymous bilingual Qualtrics survey, we assessed Arab and non-Arab participants (n = 294; ages 18+) on their conceptualizations of the causes of mental illness and on their stigma towards mental illness and mental health treatments. Comparisons were performed between Arabs and non-Arabs, as well as among Arabs.Results:Compared to non-Arabs, Arabs reported higher average mental illness stigma and were more likely to rate psychiatric medications as addictive and unhelpful. Among Arabs, being Christian, male, and older (>29 years old) were each associated with higher stigma. Arabs were less likely than non-Arabs to believe in a biological explanation for mental illness.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate higher levels of stigma towards mental illness among Arab Americans, especially Christian, male, and older Arabs, potentially related to a weaker belief in a biomedical model for mental illness.These are among the first findings describing mental illness stigma and beliefs about mental health in an Arab American community and may inform future interventions providing culturally competent care to Arab Americans.
Keywords
Arab American; mental health; stigma; attitudes
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
