Understanding Mental health literacy: Socio-demographic correlates and its association with trauma responses among caregivers of children with eating disorders

Nabirinde, Rachel (2025) Understanding Mental health literacy: Socio-demographic correlates and its association with trauma responses among caregivers of children with eating disorders. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Background
Mental health literacy (MHL) has been linked to positive mental health outcomes such as improved coping skills, increased access to mental health services and reduced community mental health symptoms. Research has shown that caregivers of children/young people (CYP) with eating disorders will experience psychological distress, namely post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). A growing area of research within MHL is eating disorder mental health literacy (ED-MHL). While there are good foundations in both MHL research and research on caregivers’ psychological well-being in this population, little is known about their association.

Aims
This thesis portfolio contains a systematic review, which aimed to synthesize data on sociodemographic factors associated with mental health literacy, and an empirical paper, which aimed to explore the association of ED-MHL and post-traumatic stress symptoms in caregivers to child/young people with eating disorders.

Methods
The systematic review used a meta-analytic approach to synthesise data from 23 studies reporting on correlations between mental health literacy and sociodemographic factors. The empirical paper used a cross-sectional design with 123 caregivers providing substantial care to a CYP with an ED. Participants completed a survey comprising demographic information, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Eating Disorder–Mental Health Literacy Scale (ED-MHL).

Results
The meta-analysis indicated that higher education levels and female gender were associated with greater MHL. Findings from the cross-sectional study revealed that while the majority of caregivers met the threshold for probable PTSD, trauma scores and ED-MHL scores were not significantly correlated.

Conclusions
This thesis contributed to knowledge of MHL and its association with mental health difficulties. It highlights the importance of sociodemographic factors in MHL and, despite the lack of a significant association between ED-MHL and trauma, it draws attention to the need for psychoeducational interventions—not only for individuals with EDs but also for their caregivers.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2026 14:16
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2026 14:16
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101643
DOI:

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