Mental Health Literacy among the Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel and Its Correlates with Mental Health Service Use

Abstract

Background. Mental health literacy (MHL) has been proposed as a factor in facilitating the utilization of mental health services. This study examined MHL among the Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel, based on Jorm’s six-dimension framework, and the contribution of each MHL dimension to mental health service use. Methods. A cross-sectional study consisting of a convenience sample of 214 Palestinian-Arabs (Mage = 36.40 ± 10.77 years, 68.2% female), who completed measures of MHL, psychological distress, mental health service use, and sociodemographic characteristics. The differences between participants who reported using mental health services (30.38%) and those who did not were examined using t- and χ2 tests. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify service use determinants. Results. Participants reported moderate or high levels on all MHL dimensions. Compared to those who did not report mental health service use, those who did had significantly ( $p<0.001$ ) higher MHL levels on three dimensions: knowledge of professional help available, knowledge of where to seek information, and attitudes that promote recognition or appropriate help-seeking behavior. The regression analysis indicated that the main determinants of mental health service use were psychological distress (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.44–2.01), knowledge of where to seek information (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02–1.32), and attitudes that promote recognition or appropriate help-seeking behavior (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02–1.14). Practice implications. This study underlines MHL’s crucial role and indicates that it is not only objective characteristics or psychological distress that determine service use among Palestinian-Arabs in Israel. Rather, individuals’ knowledge of where to seek information and attitudes promoting recognition or help-seeking behavior are also important determinants. Interventions targeting these two MHL dimensions may help increase mental health service use among this population.