Help-seeking attitudes among Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel

Gilat, Itzhak; Ezer, Hanna; Sagee, Rachel

doi:10.1080/03069881003600983

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…One study (Gilat et al . ) revealed that when a member Arab family shows symptoms of mental illness, Arabs usually turn first to family practitioners (33%), followed by family members (21.6%), and then the Sheikh (19%). Only 11% turn to mental health practitioners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stigma of mental illness in Arab families: a concept analysis

Dardas

Simmons

2015

Psychiatric Ment Health Nurs

126

120

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Accessible summary The stigma of mental illness varies significantly from culture to culture and from person to person. To date, little is known about how mental illness stigma manifests within the Arab community. This study aimed at bringing clarity to the concept of ‘mental illness stigma’ as it applies to Arab families. Nursing's holistic and patient‐centered approach is integral to helping Arab patients and their families appropriately incorporate individual values, beliefs, and cultural perspectives into treatment plans. This study establishes a scientific alert for professionals at all levels to avoid making false generalizations about a specific culture that are not based on specific research findings from that culture. Abstract Accessing mental health services is a critical step towards reducing the burden of mental illness. The stigma of mental illness is one of the most common reasons for not seeking mental health care leading to negative health consequences and undue suffering for many individuals and their families. Stigma is embedded in its social context. What may be considered acceptable in one society may be considered unacceptable and open to stigmatization in other societies. Arabs have a shared set of values, beliefs, and traditions that are substantially different from those of Westerners. Further, in most Arab countries, formal mental health resources are scarce and people with mental illness experience the compounded disadvantages of poverty and illness stigma. To date, little is known about how mental illness stigma manifests within the Arab community making it difficult to design and test interventions that support Arab individuals with mental illness and their families in treatment seeking and adherence. Using Rodger's concept analysis method, we examined how ‘mental illness stigma’ operates within an Arab context as a first step towards elucidating culturally competent approaches to treatment. This analysis provides a foundation for future work in the areas of mental illness diagnosis, education, and treatment that reflect the unique characteristics of Arab culture.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stigma of mental illness in Arab families: a concept analysis

Dardas

Simmons

2015

Psychiatric Ment Health Nurs

126

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In addition, school consultation may be perceived as a normative act, whereas turning to professional mental health sources, particularly psychologists, may be perceived as stigmatic [11]. Some studies show that adolescents perceive school staff as more acquainted with their lives and as better able to understand their difficulties than mental health professional sources and that students believe school staff will continue to value them despite the disclosure of their weaknesses [12, 13]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies carried out in Israel have found that more Israeli Arab than Jewish adolescents reported their intention to seek help from teachers and educational counselors [13], and more Israeli Arab adolescents exposed to frequent and severe acts of violence requested help from a mental health professional [19]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Help seeking in school by Israeli Arab minority adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems: results from the Galilee Study

Daeem

Mansbach-Kleinfeld

Farbstein

et al. 2016

Isr J Health Policy Res

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BackgroundMany distressed minority adolescents with little access to professional mental health services use teachers and school counselors as their main consultation sources. This paper presents data from the Galilee study on factors that may increase the probability of adolescents’ help-seeking in school and discusses the needed linkage between the school mental health services and those provided by other agencies, in the framework of the Mental Health Reform in Israel.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey included 1639, 9th grade students living in 5 Arab localities in the Galilee in northern Israel, representative of the Muslim and Druze populations. The study was carried out in two stages: in the screening stage, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was completed in the classroom. During the follow-up stage 704 students were selected and interviewed at home regarding service use in school and wellbeing at home. Their mothers were interviewed as well providing information on sociodemographic traits of the family. Total response rate was 69.3 % during the screening stage and 84.4 % during the follow-up. Students were categorized according to their SDQ scores and all students in the higher 25th percentile (high risk) and a simple systematic sample without replacement of those in the lower 75 % (low risk) were included in the follow-up study.ResultsSignificantly more high risk than low risk students reported having felt the need to seek professional help (14.0 and 6.5 % respectively) and more high risk than low risk consulted a school source (27.1 and 15.2 %, respectively). Bivariate analyses show that among Muslim adolescents more high risk than low risk consulted a school source (30 vs. 16.2 % respectively) and among high risk students more Muslim than Druze sought help from a school source (30 vs. 18 %). Higher consultation rates were found among adolescents who felt uncomfortable at home, than among those who felt very comfortable. Binary logistic regression showed that for high risk adolescents, only religion remained significantly associated with help-seeking in school: Muslim students were 2 times more likely to seek help than Druze students. In the low-risk group, students who do not feel comfortable at home were 3.3 times more likely to seek help than those who feel comfortable at home. The main sources of consultation for both risk groups were the school counselor and the grade teacher.ConclusionsA constellation of factors may be associated with help-seeking in school by minority Israeli Arab adolescents: they are students at higher risk for an emotional or behavioral disorder, they have more socio-economic hardship, they feel less comfortable at home and they are more likely to live in the larger Muslim cities. Adolescents with less family support and particularly those not classified as being at high risk, are more likely to seek help from school counselors and teachers. The school staff may need additional training to care for the mental health needs of students. There is a need to integr...

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“…Adolescents' desire for autonomy and self-reliance is also known to be driving them to solve problems without external aid (Kuhl, JarkonHorlick, & Morrissey, 1997) coupled with their notion that no one could really understand them (Gilat, Ezer, & Sagee, 2010). Seeking help from formal sources is furthermore impaired by the feeling emotionally remote from the help source (Fox & Butler, 2007).…”

Section: Internal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 97%