Attitudes towards people with depression in adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is one of the most significant public health challenges because of its prevalence and impact on the population. Attitudes towards people with depression make it difficult to control the disease and its consequences, by conditioning the search for appropriate care and can contribute to the increase of depression and anxiety. Objective: To study attitudes towards people with depression in adolescents in the Republic of Moldova. To compare the results from answers regarding their own attitude and answers regarding others' attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 421 secondary school students in Moldova was held. Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire that assessed the individual and family characteristics of the participants. The attitudes towards people with depression were assessed using the scale - Depression Stigma Scale (DSS), this scale contains 2 subscales – a) Individual Stigma and b) Perceived Stigma. The scores on the stigma scales were compared using the student t-test or ANOVA. Results: In relation to attitudes against people with depression, higher levels were found in Moldova comparing to other countries such as Australia, USA, where this tool was used. Data from the Perceived Stigma subscale showed a higher negative attitude comparing to Individual Stigma in Moldova [22.62 (5.15) vs 19.84 (4.78), p<0.001]. Conclusions: The results show that in the Republic of Moldova there is a negative attitude towards people with depression among adolescents this represents a barrier in seeking help journey of the adolescents that suffer from depression. Perceived stigma is higher than individual stigma in Moldova, this is showing that actually adolescents and people, in general, hide their true attitudes by giving socially acceptable answers, but they express answers more honestly about the situation when the question is about others in society.