Mental Health Literacy of Depression and Postnatal Depression: A Community Sample

Purpose: The present experimental study examined mental health literacy of postnatal depression (PND) in an Australian community sample. Method: Five hundred and twenty Australians (427 females) participated in an experimental study. Participants were randomly presented with one of three vignettes describing a "depressive" episode and then completed an online questionnaire examining mental health literacy and the capacity to recognise PND and its risk factors as well as the ability to source appropriate information. Results: Generally, the ability to recognise PND and the overall mental health literacy of the sample were high. Causation, however, was often misattributed to biological or environmental/social factors. PND recognition was found to be significantly affected by perception of the attachment relationship presented in two of the vignettes. Conclusions: Perception of attachment impacts PND recognition and this may negatively impact help-seeking behaviours.