(PS6-69) Exploring Resource-Oriented Mental Health Literacy by History of Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Service Utilization

Exposure to adversity, especially trauma, can increase risk for mental health concerns, yet many individuals who could benefit from help do not seek or access services. Mental Health Literacy (MHL) is described as knowledge and attitudes about mental health (MH) which facilitate recognition of MH concerns (Jorm et al., 1997; O’Connor & Casey, 2015). Individuals with lower MHL can hold stigmatizing beliefs, misinformation, or lack education on MH and relevant services. MHL appears negatively linked to MH symptoms and psychological distress (Yao et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2023), while formal psychological diagnosis has been linked to greater MHL (Miles et al., 2020). Though trauma-exposed adults may be less likely to accurately identify PTSD in MHL vignettes (Slewa-Younan et al., 2014), research on MHL in trauma-exposed populations is limited. Other work suggests trauma exposure is linked to lower Mental Health Service (MHS) utilization and knowledge of treatment options (Ghafoori et al., 2014; Williston & Vogt, 2022).
A potential contributor to lower MHS utilization may be poor MHL and limited awareness of available resources. Measures of MHL mainly assess conceptual knowledge; there are few, if any, measuring knowledge of specific MH resources (Jung et al., 2016; Wei et al., 2015). Thus, there is reason to expand our measurement and understanding of resource-oriented mental health literacy (RO-MHL). To enhance MHS use, expanding our understanding of people’s knowledge of specific resources is warranted.
This study aims to explore factors related to conceptual and resource-specific knowledge of MH and resource utilization. Specifically, we aim to understand how MH symptoms and trauma exposure are related to MHL, RO-MHL, and resource utilization. We seek to learn what resources and services participants are aware of (e.g., professional? self-paced?), especially in trauma-exposed communities. Given measures of RO-MHL are limited, existing measures of MHL (e.g., Mental Health Literacy Scale [MHLS]) guided development of a RO-MHL tool. After IRB approval (in progress), data will be collected via online surveys (Qualtrics). Additional measures will screen for trauma exposure (LEC-5) and psychosocial functioning (e.g., DASS-21, PHQ-9, GAD-7). A series of MANCOVAs will examine potential differences in RO-MHL by trauma history and MHS use, with potential contributing factors (e.g., MH symptoms, race/ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status) as covariates. We hypothesize RO-MHL will be lower in trauma-exposed participants and those endorsing more MH symptoms; and higher in those with formal MH diagnosis and MHS utilization history.
With about 1 in 8 people globally endorsing MH health challenges, cultivating MHL could serve as an intervention for preventing such problems (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022). This requires understanding the factors influencing people's awareness of available support. Results will advance the study of RO-MHL by discerning availability and utility of MH resources in community settings. Findings will aid efforts to enhance awareness and promote use of MH resources, particularly in underserved trauma-exposed communities. Implications, limitations, and future directions will be discussed.