Depression literacy among Chinese in Shanghai, China: a comparison with Chinese-speaking Australians in Melbourne and Chinese in Hong Kong

The study reported in this paper was aimed at developing understanding of depression-related knowledge and preferences surrounding
professional help, medication, and treatment methods among Chinese living in Shanghai, China.

A multi-stage cluster sampling method in which participants were taken from 6 of the 20 districts in Shanghai was adopted
for this study. The 522 Shanghai Chinese participants were presented with a vignette describing an individual with depression
before being asked questions designed to assess both their understanding of depression and their preferences surrounding professional
help, medication, and treatment methods. A comparative approach was adopted to identify similarities and differences between
our findings and those of two previous studies on the mental health literacy of Chinese living in Melbourne, Australia, and
Hong Kong, respectively.

A similarly low percentage of Chinese people in each of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Australia recognized depression. Fewer Shanghai
Chinese than Chinese living in Hong Kong and Australia ascribed the ‘anxiety/stress’ label to the depression vignette and
endorsed professionals and informal network members as helpful. Although a far lower percentage of Shanghai Chinese endorsed
the use of counseling professionals, a much higher percentage of the same group endorsed Chinese medical doctors and herbal
medication. A lower percentage of Shanghai Chinese endorsed ‘lifestyle changes’ as a strategy for combating depression than
did Chinese subjects living in Australia and Hong Kong. On the other hand, a higher percentage of Shanghai residents endorsed
psychiatric treatment and the traditional Chinese practices of ‘eating nutritious food/taking supplements’ and ‘qigong’ than
among the other two groups of Chinese.

This study underlines the need for campaigns aimed at improving the mental health literacy of Chinese in Shanghai. Such campaigns
must take into consideration the socially and culturally driven beliefs to facilitate the development of specific education
programs.