The Relationship Between Positive Mental Health Literacy and Mental Well-Being Among Adolescents: Implications for School Health Services.
Hanne N Bjørnsen, Geir A Espnes, Mary-Elizabeth B Eilertsen and 2 others
PMID 28950750WHAT IT FOUND
Norwegian adolescents who knew more about how to get and keep good mental health also reported higher mental well-being.
The link remained after accounting for stress, loneliness, health, and family background.
Key findings
01Higher knowledge about obtaining and maintaining good mental health was significantly associated with higher mental well-being in the regression model.
02The regression model explained 41% of the variance in mental well-being.
03Loneliness had the strongest negative association with mental well-being, followed by stress and father's education.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The survey measured adolescents at one time, so it cannot show that greater knowledge about mental health caused higher mental well-being. The sample was mostly Norwegian adolescents from five schools in one city, so results may not apply to other cultures or nations. All outcomes came from self-report questionnaires, so responses may have been influenced by what students thought was desirable or by fixed answer choices. Only 140 students were not born in Norway, so the study cannot say much about immigrant adolescents. The positive mental health literacy measure was newly developed, although it had been validated among Norwegian adolescents.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the Research Council of Norway and NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that school nurse-led mental health education improves adolescent well-being. The study was cross-sectional and did not test an education intervention, so it only links higher knowledge about obtaining and maintaining good mental health with higher well-being.