Mental health and its correlates: perspectives from two countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare the attributes of community dwelling adults with serious mental health illnesses in the USA and Singapore in terms of perception of mental health recovery and its correlates, namely, strengths self-efficacy, resourcefulness and stigma experience. Design/methodology/approach A convenience sample of 100 participants from each country participated in the study by completing self-administered questionnaires. Findings The results showed high overall scores in mental health recovery, strengths self-efficacy and resourcefulness in both countries with only a statistically significant difference between both countries in mental health recovery. Participants in both countries also experienced stigma. Research limitations/implications The study not only enhanced the focus on mental health and its correlates but also suggested the need for efforts to de-stigmatize mental health conditions which could impact on mental health recovery. Originality/value This paper is original and adds on to the knowledge base on mental health recovery and its correlates through the unique opportunity to review information from both countries.