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Child Mental Health Literacy Among Vietnamese and Cambodian Mothers

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Abstract

Parents’ perceptions of their children’s mental health—including recognition of specific mental health problems as such, and their beliefs about the causes and treatments for the problems—have an important impact on child mental health. This study investigated child mental health literacy among Cambodian and Vietnamese mothers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 357 mothers in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Pnom Penh and Kampong Speu, Cambodia. The Child Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to assess mothers’ mental health literacy, in particular, their ability to correctly identify different mental health disorders, and their understanding of causes of the mental health problems, and about the utility of different treatments. The overall level of mental health literacy among mothers in these two countries was low, with the proportions of mothers able to correctly identify different mental health problems ranging from 0.17 (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) to 0.35 (Trauma-related). Biological causes and adverse experiences were the most frequently selected causes of generic mental health problems. Medication, parent training and family counseling were the three most positively rated forms of treatment for mental health problems in general. Although Vietnam and Cambodia are geographic neighbors, varying results across these countries appear to reflect their different historical backgrounds. For instance, the largest difference between the two countries was for trauma-related problems, which may be related to the Cambodian history of genocide. Findings such as this demonstrate the need for contextually developed and focused public health intervention for mothers of children to improve their mental health literacy.

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The data analyzed for this paper are available from the authors upon reasonable request meeting institutional guidelines.

Abbreviations

CMHLQ:

Child Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire

GLM:

General linear models

GLIM:

Generalized linear model

HIC:

High-income countries

LMIC:

Low- and middle-income countries

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part by Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) under project number QG.16.61, and by the United States National Institutes of Health grant from the Fogarty International Center D43-TW009089. Funding agencies had no involvement in data analysis, report writing, or the decision to publish the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VNU University of Education, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Hoang-Minh Dang, Nam Tran & My Loc Nguyen

  2. College of Social Sciences, University of Cambodia, P.O. Box 917, Northbridge Road, Sangkat Toek Thla, Khan Sen Sok, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia

    Ratha Phan

  3. Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    Bahr Weiss & Amie Pollack

  4. Vinmec International Hospital, 458 Minh Khai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Tung Dang

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  1. Hoang-Minh Dang
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  6. Nam Tran
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  7. My Loc Nguyen
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design development. Material preparation, data collection and data analysis were performed by HMD, RP, TD, AP, and BW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HMD and BW, with all authors providing input on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hoang-Minh Dang.

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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest or competing interests.

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This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethics approval was granted by the Institutional Review Boards at Vietnam National University and at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Dang, HM., Phan, R., Weiss, B. et al. Child Mental Health Literacy Among Vietnamese and Cambodian Mothers. Psychol Stud 66, 62–72 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-020-00590-8

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