Is mental health literacy related to different types of coping? Comparing adolescents, young-adults and adults correlates

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health literacy is associated with better mental health outcomes and believed to improve the way people cope with life challenges and manage mental health issues. Nevertheless, no study has yet empirically examined the relationships between mental health literacy and the use of coping strategies. Aims: This study aims to describe the levels of mental health literacy (literacy about mental illness and literacy about positive mental health) and the use of coping (coping styles) in adolescents, young-adults and adults; To explore the relationship between coping and mental health literacy in each age group; To compare if patterns of significant correlations vary across groups. Methods: This is a cross-sectional / exploratory design study. We have collected online and through paper-pencil method three developmental samples: adolescents aged between 15-18 years old (N=240), young-adults aged between 19-36 (74) and adults aged between 37-75 (N=105). Measures used were: Positive Mental Health Questionnaire PosMHLitq (Maia de Carvalho et al., in preparation) to evaluate literacy about positive mental health; the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire MHLq (Campos et al., 2016; Dias et al., 2018) and the Portuguese adaptation of the Brief Cope by Pais Ribeiro and Tavares (2004) to control coping styles. Results: Across the three developmental groups, most coping styles are associated with both literacy about mental illness and literacy about mental well-being, but with different patterns of correlation between coping/literacy about mental well-being/coping/literacy about mental illness and between groups. The Use of Emotional Support is the only coping style significantly associated with both mental health literacy about mental illness and literacy about mental well-being in adolescents, young-adults and adults. Conclusions: Future research should examine this findings with longitudinal design.