title: Mental health literacy among refugee communities: differences between the Australian lay public and the Iraqi and Sudanese refugee communities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated differences in mental health knowledge and beliefs between participants from the Iraqi and Sudanese refugee communities, and Australian-born individuals, in Sydney, Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-seven participants were given vignettes of characters describing symptoms of major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress. They were required to identify psychological symptoms as disorders, rate beliefs about the causes of and helpful treatments for these disorders, and rate attitude statements regarding the two characters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Australian participants recognized the presented symptoms as specific mental disorders significantly more than Iraqi and Sudanese participants did, and reported causal and treatment beliefs which were more congruent with expert beliefs as per the western medical model of mental disorder. The Sudanese group endorsed supernatural and religious causal beliefs regarding depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms most often; but both Sudanese and Iraqi participants strongly supported options from the supernatural and religious treatment items. However, evidence for pluralistic belief systems was also found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although sampling was non-random, suggesting caution in the interpretation of results, it appears that the mental health literacy of lay Australians may be more aligned with the western medical model of mental disorder than that of Iraqi and Sudanese refugee communities. Mental health literacy support needs of Iraqi and Sudanese refugee communities resettled in western countries such as Australia might include education about specific symptoms and causes of mental disorder and the effectiveness of psychiatric treatments. These findings provide useful directions for the promotion of optimal service utilization among such communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia, s.may@southsidehealth.com.au.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: Ronald M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rapee
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coello
authors.forename: Shakeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Momartin
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aroche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013397:Sudan / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult