Assessment of Mental Health Literacy among Non-Medical Undergraduate Students of Makerere University, Uganda

Background Mental disorders often begin during adolescence or young adulthood, with 75% of cases developing between the ages of 17 and 24. This age range coincides with the period when many individuals pursue higher education. Assessing mental health literacy among this population is critical as it influences the utilization of evidence-based mental health care. This study assessed mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 365 non-medical students of Makerere University using a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from mental health literacy scale. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Bloom’s cutoffs were used to categorize the literacy levels. Results Majority of the respondents, 282 (77.3%) had moderate knowledge on mental health. Only 138 (37.8%) had positive perceptions on mental health and few, 50 (13.7%) had positive attitudes towards people with mental health disorder. The overall mental health literacy was high in only 45 (12.3%) students and was significantly associated with being a female (aOR = 0.422, P = 0.014) and having a history of a mental disorder (aOR = 2.485, P = 0.012). Conclusion This study revealed that most of the non-medical university students have poor mental health-related knowledge and negative perceptions and attitudes towards people with mental health disorder. There is a need to introduce mental health course units to every academic program at the university to improve mental health literacy.