Mental health stigma among Middle Eastern adolescents: A protocol for a systematic review

Abstract

Accessible Summary What is known on the subject? Four out of every five people with mental health disorders face stigma. Mental health and, consequently, mental health stigma are very common among youth living in the Middle East countries. Several studies have investigated mental health among adolescents in the Middle East, but studies on stigma are very scattered. There is no systematic review on stigma among adolescents with mental disorders across all the Middle East countries despite the common historical roots, similar cultural backgrounds, and recent widespread problems in the area. What this paper adds to existing knowledge? This paper will aim to review and analyse the studies on stigma among adolescents with mental disorders in the Middle East countries, from different aspects such as the age rang, kind of stigma and risk factors of stigma. The study will cover studies on all kinds of stigma among Middle Eastern adolescents up to 18 years old published between 2000 and 2019. The study terms are generally focused on four categories: (a) kinds of Stigma, (b) Mental health problems, (c) Age range and (d) Region of study population. What are the implications for practice? Increasing understanding and awareness of different angles of mental health stigma among adolescents may be helpful for better coping with this challenge. Understanding the nature of stigma may give adolescents the ability of ignoring it and avoid starting self‐stigma and/or stopping to seek help. Abstract IntroductionAlthough many epidemiological and interventional investigations regarding improving mental health among youth in the Middle East have been performed, there is no systematic review specifically analysing the studies on stigma among adolescents with mental disorders (A‐MDs) across all Middle East countries despite their common historical roots, similar cultural backgrounds, and recent widespread problems in the area. PurposeWe will aim to systematically review and analyse the English language studies on stigma among A‐MDs in the Middle East published between 2000 and 2019. MethodThe Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, PsycINFO and MEDLINE are electronic databases that will be included in this study. Furthermore, the bibliography lists of eligible articles will be manually searched for additional included articles. Descriptive statistics will be represented by mean score and standard deviation for continuous data and number/percentage for categorical data. DiscussionThis study may act as a resource for future studies attempting to assess and/or reduce stigma among children and adolescents with mental health issues specifically in the Middle East. ImplicationsIt is important for healthcare providers, including nursing professional, to improve their knowledge and vision towards stigma in their community. The outcomes of this study can be a shortcut reaching this information.

Study Protocol for the SC-SD4ASA Project: A Self-Care/Self-Development Guidebook for Asylum-Seeking Adolescents

“…Demographic and socio-demographic sensitivity such as gender and ethnicity/culture will be carefully considered in the sampling process. Adolescents in the early stage (aged 12-14 years) will not be included in the data collection as their daily plans are mostly influenced by their families, especially in the Middle East culture (18,31).…”

“…Overall, it has been approximated that more than 90% of asylum seeking children and adolescents that need mental health services, never receive them (15). Thus, the time for decreasing adolescents' psychological problems is limited and any delay in effective actions significantly increases the time span of recovery and severity of the problems (16)(17)(18).…”

The Relationship Between Mental Health Problems and Systemic Family Dynamics Among High School and University Students in Shaanxi Province, China

“…This issue applies both to developed and developing countries, although there are variations in how relevant data are collected. The World Health Organization reported in 2020 that 10–20% of children and adolescents worldwide experience mental disorders [ 2 ]. The World Bank reported in 2006 that for young people, neuropsychiatric disorders are a leading cause of health-related burden, accounting for 15–30% of the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost during the first three decades of life [ 3 ].…”

“…Adolescence is a complicated critical life stage that bridges childhood to adulthood [ 2 ]. Psychological problems of children and adolescents not only affect their academic performance and social interactions, but also contribute to serious problems in adulthood, including unemployment, drug use, and crime [ 10 ].…”

Personal and Perceived Stigmas in Adolescents toward Peers with Mental Disorders in West Sumatra Indonesia

“…One study found that mental disorders were 1.54 times more likely to be stigmatized than other conditions [11]. Another study revealed that four in five people with a mental disorder are stigmatized by their environment [12]. The stigma of mental disorders is the result of four components processes: cognitive (labeling and stereotyping), emotional (prejudice), behavioral (discrimination), and structural (the accumulated organizational policies and practices) causing injustice to people with a mental disorder.…”