The Relationship between Mental Health Literacy and General Health in Female Adolescents

Background and Objectives: It has identified health literacy as one of the most important determinants of health status. Considering the importance of mental health literacy (MHL), the aim of this study was to determine the level of mental health literacy and its correlation with general health in female middle school students. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during the academic year of 2018. First of all, three education districts were randomly selected in Mashhad. Then three female middle schools were randomly selected from those districts. students in all three schools were included in the study through convenient sampling. A total of 638 female students contributed to the study. Goldberg and Hillier’s version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) were used. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: The mean (SD) MHL and GHQ-28 were 127.69(9.58) and 23.71(12.82), respectively. Students in upper grade with graduate and employee’s fathers had significantly higher MHL (p 0.05). Students whose mothers were employees had a significantly better scores in GHQ-28 (p 0.001). More than 70% of students had no somatic symptoms, anxiety, or depression. Around 53.2% of students had low disorder in the social function subscale.  Based on the results, there was a significant negative correlation between MHL and depression (p 0.05). Conclusion: Based on our results, better mental health literacy led to lower depression in female middle school students.