Abstract
BackgroundDepression causes substantial disease burden in both developed and developing countries. To reduce this burden, we need to promote understanding of depression as a major health condition. The International Depression Literacy Survey (IDLS) has been developed to assess understanding of depression in different cultural and health care settings.MethodsFour groups of Australian university students completed the survey: medical students in second (n = 103) and fourth (n = 82) years of a graduate course, ethnic Chinese students (n = 184) and general undergraduate students (n = 38).ResultsDifferences between the student groups were evident, with fourth year medical students demonstrating greater general health and depression literacy than second year medical students. Australian undergraduate students demonstrated better depression literacy than those from ethnic Chinese backgrounds. Ethnicity also influenced help seeking and treatment preferences (with more Chinese students being inclined to seek help from pharmacists), beliefs about discrimination and perceptions regarding stigma.ConclusionThe IDLS does detect significant differences in understanding of depression among groups from different ethnic backgrounds and between those who differ in terms of prior health training. These preliminary results suggest that it may be well suited for use in a wider international context. Further investigation of the utility of the IDLS is required before these results could be extrapolated to other populations.
Highlights
Depression causes substantial disease burden in both developed and developing countries
Through our social marketing strategies for beyondblue: the national depression initiative in Australia, we focused more on these general health and depression-specific literacy issues than on an individual's capacity to recognise a typical 'case' of mental disorder
Demographics The mean age of students was 24.4 years (SD = 4.0 years; range = 15 – 43 years), with Chinese students being significantly older than ANU students, and fourth year medical students significantly older than second year students
Summary
Depression causes substantial disease burden in both developed and developing countries. To achieve meaningful reductions in depression-related health burden a range of preventative and treatment strategies are urgently required [3,4]. The development of such initiatives, usually depends on (page number not for citation purposes). Assessment has rested largely on typical case-based vignettes of persons with schizophrenia or depression This approach requires the respondent to identify the person as a 'case' of mental disorder and disclose their knowledge or attitudes about available health services or treatments. This has proved to be a useful way of tracking community attitudes to a range of mental health problems and their treatments, in English-speaking countries [6]
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