Advancing research to eliminate mental illness stigma: an interventional study to improve community attitudes towards depression among University students in Singapore

• Published in: BMC psychiatry 2021-02, Vol.21 (1), p.108-108, Article 108
• Main Authors: Goh, Chong Min Janrius, Shahwan, Shazana, Lau, Jue Hua, Ong, Wei Jie, Tan, Gregory Tee Hng, Samari, Ellaisha, Kwok, Kian Woon, Subramaniam, Mythily, Chong, Siow Ann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-stigma intervention; Attitude; Attitudes; CAMI; College campuses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographic aspects; Depression; Depression, Mental; Dperession; Factor analysis; Humans; Intervention; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental health; Mental health care; Prevention; Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Singapore; Social Stigma; Stigma; Students; Study and teaching; Surveys and Questionnaires; Universities; University students
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03106-4

After decades of anti-stigma initiatives, the Advancing Research To Eliminate Mental Illness Stigma (ARTEMIS) intervention study is one of the first in Singapore to evaluate the effects of an anti-stigma intervention on attitudes towards depression in university students. 390 university students from a local university in Singapore were voluntarily recruited for the study. The ARTEMIS intervention comprises an educational and social contact component, as well as a question and answer (Q&A) session with experts in the area of mental health. The Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness (CAMI) scale was administered at baseline, post-intervention and at 3-months follow-up. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. The CFA identified a 3-factor model for the CAMI with a decent fit (RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.06). Favourable shifts in attitudes across the factors were observed immediately after the intervention (p