Cross-cultural comparison of mental illness stigma and help-seeking attitudes: a multinational population-based study from 16 Arab countries and 10,036 individuals

BackgroundThere is evidence that culture deeply affects beliefs about mental illnesses\u27 causes, treatment, and help-seeking. We aimed to explore and compare knowledge, attitudes toward mental illness and help-seeking, causal attributions, and help-seeking recommendations for mental illnesses across various Arab countries and investigate factors related to attitudes toward help-seeking.MethodsWe carried out a multinational cross-sectional study using online self-administered surveys in the Arabic language from June to November 2021 across 16 Arab countries among participants from the general public.ResultsMore than one in four individuals exhibited stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness (26.5%), had poor knowledge (31.7%), and hold negative attitudes toward help-seeking (28.0%). ANOVA tests revealed a significant difference between countries regarding attitudes (F = 194.8, p \u3c .001), knowledge (F = 88.7, p \u3c .001), and help-seeking attitudes (F = 32.4, p \u3c .001). Three multivariate regression analysis models were performed for overall sample, as well as Palestinian and Sudanese samples that displayed the lowest and highest ATSPPH-SF scores, respectively. In the overall sample, being female, older, having higher knowledge and more positive attitudes toward mental illness, and endorsing biomedical and psychosocial causations were associated with more favorable help-seeking attitudes; whereas having a family psychiatric history and endorsing religious/supernatural causations were associated with more negative help-seeking attitudes. The same results have been found in the Palestinian sample, while only stigma dimensions helped predict help-seeking attitudes in Sudanese participants.ConclusionInterventions aiming at improving help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and promoting early access to care need to be culturally tailored, and congruent with public beliefs about mental illnesses and their causations

Schizotypal traits in a large sample of high-school and university students from Tunisia: correlates and measurement invariance of the arabic schizotypal personality questionnaire across age and sex

Abstract Background The main goal of the present study was to examine the characteristics of schizotypal traits and their correlations with genetic (i.e., family history of mental illness), demographic (i.e., age, sex), environmental (e.g., income, urbanicity, tobacco/alcohol/cannabis use), and psychological (i.e., personal history of mental illness other than psychosis) factors in Tunisian high-school and university students. Our secondary goal was to contribute the literature by examining the factor structure and factorial invariance of the Arabic Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) across sex and age (adolescents [12–18 years] vs. young adults [18–35 years]) groups. Method This was a cross-sectional study involving 3166 students: 1160 (36.6%) high-school students (53.0% females, aged 14.9 ± 1.8); and 2006 (63.4%) university students (63.9% females, aged 21.8 ± 2.3). All students were asked to complete a paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire containing sociodemographic characteristics as well as the Arabic version of the SPQ. Results The total sample yielded total SPQ scores of 24.1 ± 16.6 out of 74. The SPQ yielded good composite reliability as attested by McDonald's omega values ranging from .68 to .80 for all nine subscales. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that fit of the 9-factor model of SPQ scores was acceptable. This model is invariant (at the configural, metric and structural levels) across sex and age. Except for “Odd or eccentric behavior”, all schizotypy features were significantly higher among female students compared to males. Multivariable analyses showed that female sex, being a university student, lowest family incomes, tobacco use, and having a personal history of psychiatric illness were significantly associated with higher positive, negative and disorganized schizotypy subscales scores. Conclusion Future research still needs to confirm our findings and investigate the contribution of the identified factors in the development of clinical psychosis. We can also conclude that the Arabic SPQ is appropriate for measuring and comparing schizotypy across age and sex in clinical and research settings. These findings are highly relevant and essential for ensuring the clinical utility and applicability of the SPQ in cross-cultural research

Profiles of the Headspace Volatile Organic and Essential Oil Compounds from the Tunisian Cardaria draba (L.) Desv. and Its Leaf and Stem Epidermal Micromorphology

In this work, we investigated aroma volatiles emanated by dry roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits of Cardaria draba (L.) Desv. growing wild in Tunisia and its aerial part essential oils (EOs) composition. A total of 37 volatile organic compounds (96.7%-98.9%) were identified; 4 esters, 4 alcohols, 7 hydrocarbons, 12 aldehydes, 5 ketones, 1 lactone, 1 organosulfur compound, 2 organonitrogen compounds, and 1 acid. The hydrocarbons form the main group, representing 49.5%-84.6% of the total detected volatiles. The main constituent was 2,2,4,6,6-pentamethylheptane (44.5%-76.2%) reaching the highest relative percentages. Forty-two compounds were determined in the two fractions of EOs, representing 98.8% and 97.2% of the total oil composition, respectively. The principal components were hexadecanoic acid (34.6%), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (18.3%), decanal (15.0%), 6,10,14-trimethyl2-pentadecanone (13.2%), and n-pentacosane (13%). Micromorphological details of the leaf and stem epidermis using light microscopy revealed polygonal cells with sinuous walls in the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces and nearly rectangular and long ones with linear and thick walls for the stem epidermis. The stomata complexes were anisocytic in the leaf epidermis and mainly anisocytic and rarely paracytic in the stem epidermis. Non-glandular trichomes were unbranched and long with an acute apex or short with a convex apex. The glandular ones were identified for the first time in this species. They were short-stalked with a large secretory head. The highest stomatal index (17.02%) was recorded in the abaxial leaf surface. The identification of headspace volatiles and essential oil compounds can be used to characterize this species, and the various epidermis micromorphological features are very useful for biosystematics taxonomic studies within Brassicaceae