Exploring awareness, attitude, and practices toward mental illnesses: A cross-sectional survey among university students in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Mental illness is a serious condition requiring early intervention. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and stigma toward mental illness among university students in Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted during the academic year 2018–2019 in a university in Saudi Arabia. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select students (n = 778). A standardized self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. RESULTS: The students had an adequate level of knowledge on mental illness (44.1%), and almost half of them had a positive attitude (52.2%) toward mental illness. The female students (55.9%) exhibited a significantly higher positive attitude than the males (48.4%) (P = 0.038). The students’ knowledge level increased significantly with an increase in the academic year (P = 0.010). The students from urban places showed a significantly higher knowledge level (50.5%) than those from the rural areas (40.5%) (P = 0.007). The students from health-related colleges (59.7%) showed higher positive attitudes, but without statistical significance (P = 0.104) than those from other colleges. The female gender (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–1.88, P = 0.020) was an important factor associated with positive attitudes. The important independent predictors of adequate mental illness knowledge were living in urban places (OR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.09–1.98, P = 0.012) and studying in the sixth year (OR = 2.1, 95% CI, 1.1–3.9, P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Although students showed a favorable attitude toward mental illness, their knowledge level can be improved. Research outcomes can be used to design health educational interventions to enhance university students’ mental health literacy.