Influence of age and gender on mental health literacy of anxiety disorders

This study explored the influence of age and gender on Mental Health Literacy (MHL) of various anxiety disorders. The aim was to determine whether the gender and age of participants and gender of the disorders character had a significant effect on their ability to recognise a range of anxiety disorders. A convenience sample of 162 individuals (aged 18-70yrs) completed one of two questionnaires, which differed only on the gender of the vignette's character. Participants had to label the “problems” of individual in six vignettes and state their opinion on how well adjusted the characters were in terms of happiness and work and personal relationships. 'Correct' labelling (using the official/technical term) of the different disorders varied from 3% to 29% of all participants. Gender differences of participants had a significant effect on literacy where females demonstrated higher MHL than males and the youngest group (18-29yrs) showed better MHL than older groups. There was a non-significant effect of vignette gender on recognition rates. The research points to the evidence that MHL remains relatively low for all anxiety disorders.