Causes and risk factors for common mental illnesses: the beliefs of paediatric hospital staff in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Children and adolescents with chronic physical health conditions are vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes. The measurement of mental health literacy of health professionals working with such populations is important because of their role in promoting early and appropriate help-seeking. This study sought to determine the beliefs regarding the causes of and risks factors for three types of mental illnesses amongst health professionals in United Arab Emirates.

Mental health literacy of school nurses in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: To support promotion, prevention and early intervention for mental illness school nurses need to be mental health literate.

Methods: Three hundred and thirty-nine school nurses employed in government and private schools from three Emirates in the UAE were surveyed. A culturally adapted Mental Health Literacy questionnaire comprising three vignettes of fictional characters meeting diagnostic criteria for the target conditions along with the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) was administered to ascertain school nurses' ability to correctly identify the conditions and to elicit beliefs about helpfulness of treatment interventions and of health care providers for these conditions.

Mental health literacy among pediatric hospital staff in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 35% of the population are aged 0-24 years. A significant proportion of these young people are living with chronic conditions (e.g.