Determinants of Mental Health Literacy Among Adolescent Students in Governmental Secondary Schools of Addis Ababa, Ehtiopia
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Date
2024-06-13
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: Mental health literacy is the knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders. Adequate mental health literacy is linked to better health seeking behavior and management of mental illness. It is particularly important during adolescence, a critical phase for developing social and emotional habits important for mental well-being to cope with the stresses of life, realize their ability, learn well and work well and contribute to their community
Methods: School based cross-sectional study was conducted February to March, 2024 G.C at selected secondary school in Addis Ababa. A total of 902 adolescent students in secondary school was selected using multi stage cluster sampling. The data was be gathered using self administered structured pretested questionnaires. Data entered was exported to IBM SPSS statistics (version 26) for analysis for Kobo ToolBox. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result: A total of 833 adolescent students aged 15-18 in selected schools of Addis Ababa participated. The mean social capital score was 27.09 (SD=2.78), and the mean mental health literacy score was 116.90(SD=23.07).In multiple linear regression analysis mental health literacy was significantly associated with study participants with single relationship status (ß =8.55, p=.005) students family size greater than 5(ß=4.89, p=.010), study participants who preferred following or watching transformative (educational and inspirational) and interactive contents on social media (ß=-4.43, p=.003) and (ß=3.85, p=.034) respectively. And also significantly associated who had good neighborhood social capital (ß=5.69, p=.005) and good trust in school or neighborhood on social capital (ß=3.97, p=.043).
Conclusion: The findings show the importance of interacting and connecting in increasing adolescents' mental health literacy. Specifically, study participants with larger family sizes, those who preferred interacting social media contents, and those with good social support networks and community cohesion were found to have increased mental health literacy.
Key word: Adolescent, Mental health literacy, Secondary school, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Adolescent Mental health literacy Secondary schoolAddis Ababa Ethiopia