The correlations of mental health literacy with psychological aspects of general health among Iranian female students

BACKGROUND: Mental health literacy has been defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management, or prevention. This study aimed to examine the correlations of mental health literacy specific to depression and general health in a sample of high school students in Iran. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the first 6 months of 2018 among the students of an Iranian high school. A total of 65 students contributed to the study. The required data were gathered using two valid questionnaires, Goldberg and Hillier’s version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), to measure psychological quality of life, and the Depression Literacy Questionnaire (D-Lit). The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: Neither the general health total scale nor any of its subscales showed statistically significant correlations with depression-related literacy. CONCLUSION: Correlation of mental health literacy with general psychological health was not confirmed in this study. Also, due to the contextual differences of different societies, the generalisation of our findings should be done with caution.