Mental health literacy and quality of life in Iran: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Mental health is one of the effective factors in the quality of life of people. The aim of the present study was to determine the status of mental health literacy (MHL) and its relationship with the quality of life across the Iranian general population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a multi-stage sampling method was used to survey 1070 participants from the city of Gonabad (Iran). The data collection tools were demographics section, mental health literacy scale (MHLS), and quality of life (SF-12) questionnaires. The data was analyzed by SPSS software version 24 using Independent sample t- test, One- way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of the total scores of MHL and quality of life were 113.54 (10.34) and 35.26 (6.42), respectively. The results revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between MHL and the quality of life (p < 0.001). In this study, there was a significant relationship between variables of sex, level of education, plus received information about mental illness and MHL (p < 0.001). The quality of life was higher in participants whose family members did not have a mental illness, had a high-income level, and received information about mental illness (p < 0.001). Logistic regression indicated that there was a significant relationship between the ability to recognize mental disorders plus knowledge of where to seek information and obtaining information related to mental health (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, there was a correlation between health literacy and quality of life, and more attention should be paid to MHL. Thus, appropriate programs should be designed and implemented to enhance the level of MHL.