Mental health stigma: the effect of religiosity on the stigma perceptions of students in secondary school in Jordan toward people with mental illnesses

AIM: Mental health disorders in many countries are regarded as taboo and are often concealed. This study aimed to (a) explore students in secondary school' stigma perceptions of mental disorder; (b) examine whether there is a connection between religiosity and stigma toward people with mental illnesses; and (c) identify stigma correlates for stigma perceptions toward people with mental illnesses based on the religiosity and demographic features of the students. METHOD: A cross-sectional correlational study was undertaken among 357 students from two high schools. The participants completed a structured research instrument that consisted of (1) a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, (2) a religiosity questionnaire and (3) a devaluation-discrimination scale. RESULTS: The regression model was able to forecast a moderate percentage of stigma perception variance (F = 4.74, p = .01). Gender was the only important correlate in the model at p = .05. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study found that among students in secondary school in Jordan there is an association between religiosity and stigma toward mental disorders. This result implies that there is a need to increase policy maker information about the importance of applying religious principles to decrease stigma and enhance a positive non-stigmatizing attitude toward mental disorders. Moreover, improving the curriculum content concerning the problems associated with mental ill health may allow students to gain a more precise understanding of mental disorders more generally.