The Relationship Between Positive Mental Health Literacy and Mental Well-Being Among Adolescents: Implications for School Health Services

Abstract

Mental health education is a central part of school nurses' practice. Mental health literacy is an asset for health that educational initiatives can strengthen, and a significant determinant of mental health. This study was intended to examine the relationship between positive mental health literacy (PMeHL) and mental well-being to discuss its implications for school health services' mental health education. The relationship was assessed using a multiple linear regression model controlling for relevant covariates. Data were derived from a cross-sectional school-based survey including 1,888 adolescents aged 15-21 years (response rate 97.3%). A weak gender difference was found in PMeHL. The regression model accounted for 41% of the variance in adolescents' mental well-being; PMeHL was a significant explanatory variable of mental well-being. Accordingly, the current study found support for including PMeHL, or knowledge of how to obtain and maintain good mental health, as an integral component of school health services' mental health education among adolescents.

Mental well-being among students in Norwegian upper secondary schools: the role of teacher support and class belonging

“…The findings in the current study are largely in line with previous research (e.g. Bjørnsen et al, 2017;Chirkov & Ryan, 2001;Danielsen et al, 2009;Diseth & Samdal, 2014;Jose et al, 2012) and theory (Deci & Ryan, 2015;Reeve & Yang, 2006;Ryan, 1995). According to SDT, positive influence, such as teacher support, is an important psychosocial factor for intrinsic motivation, growth and well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2015;Reeve & Jang, 2006).…”

“…This indicates that the effect of teacher support and class belonging on girls' and boys' mental well-being is probably not affected by study specialization or SES. This finding was somewhat surprising as previous research indicates the considerable importance of SES for mental health (Bjørnsen et al, 2017;Samdal et al, 2016). However, previous research on the relation between mental health and SES had either samples of eleven to sixteen year old students (Samdal et al, 2016) or a negative mental health outcome (Bjørnsen et al, 2017), which make them less suitable for comparison with current study results.…”

“…Furthermore, research on belonging and negative health outcomes indicates that high levels of belonging can prevent depression (Colarossi & Eccles, 2003). Whereas loneliness, which can be viewed as the opposite of belonging, has shown to be inversely correlated to mental well-being among youth (Bjørnsen et al, 2017).…”

Kunnskap kan gi ungdom bedre psykisk helse

“…Resultatene baserer seg på svar fra en spørreundersøkelse der 2981 elever ved fem videregående skoler i Sør-Trøndelag ble spurt om å besvare et spørreskjema ved oppstart av skoleåret 2016/2017 (12,16). Laerere ved skolene delte ut spørreskjema til 2145 av elevene på skolene.…”

“…Resultatene viser at de inkluderte variablene til sammen forklarer 41 prosent av variasjonen i psykisk velvaere hos de spurte ungdommene, der kunnskap om god psykisk helse viser seg å vaere en viktig faktor (16). Resultatene viser også at blant annet økende grad av ensomhet og stress var relatert til lavere psykisk velvaere.…”