Abstract
Health literacy is a growing field with an increasing amount of research being conducted. Given the increasing attention to this topic it is surprising that there has been little research focused on adolescents (Manganello, Health Education Research, 23(5):840–847, 2008). There is also a paucity of research in the USA about health literacy and mental health, and almost no research in this area specific to adolescents. This chapter will address the intersection of health literacy and mental health, including mental health literacy, with a focus on adolescents. We will give a summary of definitions of health literacy and mental health literacy, and provide a brief overview of research that has focused on both health literacy, including its relationship to mental health outcomes, and mental health literacy. We will highlight research in these areas that has been conducted with adolescents, and propose ideas for future work.
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For more information on measurement, see a recent report from the Institute of Medicine (Hernandez, 2009).
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We would like to thank Mark Duheme for his assistance with the literature review for this chapter.
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Manganello, J.A., Sentell, T., Davis, T.C. (2013). Health Literacy, Mental Health,and Adolescents. In: O'Donohue, W., Benuto, L., Woodward Tolle, L. (eds) Handbook of Adolescent Health Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6633-8_10
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