Moderating Role of Health Literacy on the Association between Alexithymia and Depressive Symptoms in Middle School Students

Xianbing Song, Danlin Li, Jie Hu, Rong Yang, Yuhui Wan, Jun Fang and Shichen Zhang
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Xianbing Song: Department of Human Anatomy, Histology & Embryology, Anhui Medical College, Hefei 230032, China
Danlin Li: Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
Jie Hu: Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
Rong Yang: Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
Yuhui Wan: Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
Jun Fang: MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle/Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Hefei 230032, China
Shichen Zhang: Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-9

Abstract: Depression is a common psychological problem in adolescents. At present, few studies have described the moderating role of health literacy on the association between alexithymia and depressive symptoms among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the relation among health literacy, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms and the moderating role of health literacy in middle school students. In December 2017, data were collected from a school in Shenyang by the convenient sampling method using a questionnaire including demographic information, health literacy, alexithymia, and depressive symptoms. A total of 1068 junior and senior high school students were selected as subjects, and 1062 valid questionnaires were retained for analysis. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between health literacy and alexithymia with depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 48.2%, and the prevalence of alexithymia was 17.9%. Low health literacy was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) = 3.648 (2.493–5.338)). Alexithymia was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms (OR (95% CI) = 3.091 (2.156–4.429)). Low health literacy was related to a greater increase in the risk of depressive symptoms for students with alexithymia (OR (95% CI) = 10.566 (5.175–21.570)). The findings suggest that alexithymia and health literacy are important factors influencing depressive symptoms and health literacy has a moderating role on the association between alexithymia and depressive symptoms. Enhancing health literacy of middle school students with alexithymia may improve their mental health.

Keywords: health literacy; alexithymia; depressive symptoms; moderating role; students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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