Health Psychology Research / HPR / Online First / DOI: 10.14440/hpr.0130
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nursing Students’ Knowledge and Attitude Toward People with Mental Illness in the United Arab Emirates

Omar Melhem1* ,  Nathira Al Hmaimat1 ,  Fares Daradkeh1 ,  Atika Khalaf2,3
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1 Department of Nursing, Fatima College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, PO Box 3798, United Arab Emirates
2 The PRO-CARE Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad Scania SE-291 88, Sweden
3 Hind Bint Maktoum College of Nursing and Midwifery, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai, PO Box 505055, United Arab Emirates
HPR, e81240016 https://doi.org/10.14440/hpr.0130
Submitted: 13 May 2025 | Revised: 19 June 2025 | Accepted: 7 July 2025 | Published: 18 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background

Society often holds stigmas and negative attitudes toward people with mental illness (PMI), potentially affecting the quality of care provided by nursing students. However, there is a piecemeal of research to examine the attitude of nursing students toward PMI in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Objective

The study aims to explore UAE nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding PMI.

Methods

A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational survey design was employed to assess their knowledge and attitudes of nursing students (n = 310) toward PMI. Data were collected using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill questionnaire, which includes four subscales: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology (CMHI).

Results

Nursing students possessed a moderate level of knowledge on PMI (mean [M]= 21.7, standard deviation [SD] = 3.9), high levels of authoritarianism (M = 13.7, SD = 3.5), and benevolence (M = 13.2, SD = 4.8). A significant correlation was found between the number of academic years and both authoritarianism (p=0.017) and benevolence (p=0.006), indicating that students’ attitudes evolve as they progress through their nursing education. In addition, elevated scores were reported for social restrictiveness (M = 18.0, SD = 3.4) and CMHI (M = 15.7, SD = 4.2), reflecting mixed perceptions regarding the social integration of PMI.

Conclusion

The study highlights the importance of implementing targeted educational and clinical interventions to address stigmatizing attitudes toward PMI among nursing students in the UAE. Clinical placements in mental health settings are valuable to provide students with direct exposure to PMI, addressing negative stereotypes and encouraging more positive attitudes.

Keywords
Attitude
Knowledge
Students
Nursing
Stigma
Mental illness
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Health Psychology Research, Electronic ISSN: 2420-8124 Published by Health Psychology Research
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