Mental Illness
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Exploring Mental Health Status and Psychosocial Support among Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study

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 Journal profile

Mental Illness is an online-only, international, Open Access peer-reviewed journal which publishes scientific papers concerning the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. All psychiatry-related manuscripts are welcome.

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Chief Editor Prof Domenico De Berardis is based at the ASL 4 of Teramo, Italy, and is currently researching alexithymia, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders.

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This journal's articles appear in a wide range of abstracting and indexing databases, and are covered by numerous other services that aid discovery and access. Find out more about where and how the content of this journal is available.

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Research Article

Motivations and Limitations of Pursuing a Career in Psychiatry: A Cross-Sectional Study from the United Arab Emirates

Background. The global burden of mental disorders continues to grow with significant health, social, and economic consequences. Unfortunately, the gap between the need for mental healthcare and its provision remains wide all over the world. The recruitment and retention of psychiatrists is a long-standing concern in the United Arab Emirates, with social stigma playing a potential role. This study is aimed at investigating the factors that affect psychiatrists’ choice of psychiatry as an area of practice in the United Arab Emirates. Methods. This cross-sectional study was undertaken using an anonymized 30-item online questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained from the United Arab Emirates University Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee prior to participant recruitment. We recruited qualified psychiatrists currently working in the United Arab Emirates. The structured questionnaire assessed the participants’ sociodemographic factors and reasons for choosing psychiatry. Statistical analysis, including Pearson correlations and chi-square tests, was performed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results. We found that the doctors trained in the United Arab Emirates were statistically more likely to face opposition to specializing in psychiatry ( value < 0.001). Participants with a family member or friend as a psychiatrist were more likely to choose psychiatry as a first-choice specialty ( value 0.01). Psychiatrists below the age of 35 were more statistically likely to face opposition to their decision to specialize in psychiatry ( value 0.006). Psychiatrists who regretted their decision to specialize in psychiatry were statistically more likely to feel this way in their first year of residency ( value < 0.001). Conclusions. Multiple sociodemographic factors influence responses to the decision to specialize in psychiatry in the United Arab Emirates. Younger people and people who studied in or were a citizen of the United Arab Emirates were more likely to face opposition to their decision to specialize in psychiatry, indicating why there are such high rates of psychiatrists from overseas in the United Arab Emirates and shortages in the profession.

Research Article

Recurrent COVID-19 Waves and Lockdown: Impact on Daily Life and Mental Health of People in Nepal

Background. Lockdown is recognized as an effective measure in limiting the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout the world. However, recurrent COVID-19 infection and the extension of lockdown have threatened the livelihoods of people, mainly socioeconomic and mental health dimensions. Objective. The present study is aimed at identifying the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the daily life and mental health of the general population of Nepal. Furthermore, the study identified the predictors of the mental health status of the people during COVID-19 lockdown. Methods. The study was conducted among 354 Nepalese people specifically the breadwinner of the family. Respondents completed the questionnaires related to the sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19, and its impact on various aspects of life, including mental health via Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21). Data was collected through the web-based method, Google Forms questionnaire. Respondents were contacted through email and social networks (Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber) following a snowball approach. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify significant demographic, COVID-related, and socioeconomic factors associated with mental health outcomes. Results. Based on DASS-21 scores, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 46.6% (mild: 22.3%, moderate: 16.7%, severe: 6.5%, and extremely severe: 1.1), 42.1% (mild: 10.2%, moderate: 18.6%, severe: 11.6%, and extremely severe: 1.7%), and 39% (mild: 16.7%, moderate: 12.7%, and severe: 9.6%), respectively. Various factors associated with COVID-19, its lockdown measures, and sociodemographic characteristics of the people were identified as the significant predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress among the general population of Nepal. Conclusion. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on individuals’ work, income, education, living standard, lifestyle, and consequently mental health is significant. The study findings warrant the importance of understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ all aspects of life and timely monitoring and appropriate intervention on risk groups to reduce the severity and chronicity of mental health problems.

Research Article

Resilience among Parents and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Resilience plays a pivotal role to offset stress among families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the majority of previous studies investigated resilience in parents, it is unclear what factors contribute to resilience in children. Thus, we aimed to explore resilience experienced by parents of children with ASD and how it affects children’s resilience. We invited 50 parents of a child with ASD, 13 years old or younger, across various Canadian provinces in an online survey. Parental resilience was positively associated with household income and negatively associated with parental stress. Resilience in children with ASD was positively associated with their social participation at home and community. Findings indicate a relationship between resilience in children with ASD and their participation, suggesting new ways to increase resilience in children with ASD by enhancing their participation.

Research Article

Validity of Adult Psychopathology Model Using Psychiatric Patient Sample from a Developing Country: Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Objectives. This study is aimed at testing and validating the two-factor measurement model of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). Specifically, this paper reported construct validity, particularly focusing on convergent and discriminant validities of the internalizing-externalizing MCMI model of adult psychopathology using a psychiatric sample from a developing country, the Republic of Yemen. Methods. MCMI was distributed among 232 outpatients from the Hospital of Taiz City and two private psychiatry clinics in Yemen; data were collected using structured interviews over four months. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to explore and confirm the latent structure MCMI and verify the evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Results. The CFA results indicated that MCMI was a good fit for the internalizing-externalizing two-factor model of adult psychopathology, comparative fit index , and . The results of the CFA provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity characterized by MCMI with the internalizing-externalizing model. Conclusion. The adult psychopathology of internalizing-externalizing is a valid measurement model of MCMI with ten personality disorders and eight clinical syndromes.

Research Article

Level and Associated Factors of Literacy and Stigma of Suicide among Bangladeshi Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Assessment

Objectives. Literacy and stigma of suicide among doctors affect health-service delivery for persons with suicidal behavior. However, no attempt has been identified to assess those among physicians in Bangladesh. We aimed to determine the level and associated factors of suicide literacy and stigma toward suicide among physicians in Bangladesh. Methods. We collected data from 203 physicians in February 2022 by Google Forms. We used the Bangla literacy of suicide scale (LOSS-B) and the Bangla stigma of suicide scale (SOSS-B) to assess the literacy and stigma of suicide. The instrument also included questions for collecting sociodemographic variables and assessing suicidal behavior. Results. The mean age of the physicians was (range 23–66) years, 109 (53.7%) were females, 150 (73.9%) were married, and 181 (89.2%) were Muslim. The mean LOSS-B score was (range 1-10). Suicide literacy was higher in singles (), doctors with a family history of suicide (), a history of suicidal thought in lifetime (), and in the last year (). Muslims () and city dwellers () had higher scores in the stigma subscale of SOSS-B whilst respondents with history of mental illness had a significantly lower level of stigma (). The stigma and isolation subscales were positively correlated indicating a higher value stigma creates higher isolation (). No relationship between suicide literacy and suicide stigma was identified among the physicians. Conclusions. Suicide literacy among the physicians of Bangladesh is low albeit higher than the level among the students. Appropriate programs should be designed to improve the status quo because physicians play fundamental roles as health-service providers as well as gatekeepers in suicide prevention.

Research Article

Psychometric Properties of the Bangla Brief Suicide Cognitions Scale among University Level Students

Objectives. Assessment of suicide cognition would help to measure the enduring suicide risk and to predict the risk of a suicide attempt. However, no previous attempt was identified to validate the suicide cognition scale in Bangla. We aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Brief Suicide Cognitions Scale (BSCS) in Bangla. Methods. We conducted this validation study among 529 medical and university students. We collected the responses by Google Forms with the translated version of BSCS from 20 August to 20 October 2022. We assessed internal consistency form of reliability, face validity, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, and discriminant validity. Results. The mean age of the respondents was years; 52.5% were males, 92% were single, 75% were undergraduate students, 40.24% were studying in medical schools, 18.53% had a chronic illness, 9.45% had a mental illness, 4.16% had a family history of suicide, and 11.15% had previous nonfatal attempts. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.84, and factor analysis revealed unidimensional construct with six items with a good model fit. The BSCS showed acceptable convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusion. This study assessed the psychometric properties of Bangla BSCS among students which found acceptable reliability and validity. Further studies could test the validation especially among clinical samples to assess the predictive validity of the instrument.

Mental Illness
Publishing Collaboration
More info
Emerald Publishing
 Journal metrics
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Acceptance rate-
Submission to final decision-
Acceptance to publication-
CiteScore2.600
Journal Citation Indicator-
Impact Factor-
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Article of the Year Award: Outstanding research contributions of 2021, as selected by our Chief Editors. Read the winning articles.