Social support profiles and their association with sociodemographic and mental health characteristics among treatment-seeking adults in Arabic-speaking countries

Abstract

High prevalences of mental disorders have been found among people from Arabic-speaking countries. Perceived social support has often been identified as a significant factor in the development of mental disorders, and the social environment is especially important with respect to treatment-seeking. However, the extent to which different sources of perceived social support are associated with mental health remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined latent profiles based on perceived social support from different sources, and examined their relationship with sociodemographic characteristics, psychopathological symptom severity, and quality of life (QoL). The sample consisted of N = 5,977 treatment-seeking adults from different Arabic-speaking countries. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify subgroups of individuals based on perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze predictors of profile membership. Differences between profiles regarding depressive, posttraumatic stress, somatoform symptom severity, and QoL, were examined using tests for equality of means. We identified a five-profile class-invariant unrestricted solution. Marital status, sex, age, education, and country of origin were significant predictors of profile membership. The profiles differed significantly regarding depressive, posttraumatic stress, and somatoform symptom severity, and QoL. Participants perceiving moderate to high social support from different sources indicated lower psychopathological symptom levels. The low perceived social support profile showed lower QoL compared to all other profiles (p < .05). Individuals who perceive low social support from different sources appear to show higher psychopathological symptom severity and lower QoL. Our key finding reveals that individuals with multi-source support profiles showed significantly lower psychopathological symptom severity and higher quality of life compared to those with limited support profiles. Social support perception varies systematically between participants from different Arabic-speaking countries, with individuals from more stable countries reporting higher perceived support. Therefore, clinical interventions should integrate family members and community networks as integral components to enhance therapeutic outcomes. At a systemic level, policy initiatives should focus on strengthening societal-level support infrastructure, with approaches tailored to the local political and economic contexts of the target populations. Enhancing perceived social support must be prioritized not only within psychotherapy but also through diverse societal levels, to promote sustained mental health in Arabic-speaking countries