IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v69y2023i6p1490-1500.html

The mediating effect of family health on the relationship between health literacy and mental health: A national cross-sectional survey in China

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Wang
  • Xinying Sun
  • Feiying He
  • Chenxi Liu
  • Yibo Wu

Abstract

Background: Mental health problems significantly affect people’s well-being and result in a huge health burden. Health literacy and family health are critical to reducing people’s mental health problems. However, limited studies have addressed their complex interaction. Thus, this study aims to elucidate the mediating effect of family health on the relationship between health literacy and mental health. Methods: A national cross-sectional study based on multistage random sampling was conducted from July 10 to Sep 15, 2021, in China. Information about the public’s health literacy, family health, and the level of three common mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and stress) was collected. A structural equation model (SEM) was applied to explore the mediating effect of family health on the relationship between health literacy and mental health. Results: A total of 11,031 participants were investigated. Approximately 19.93 and 13.57% of participants experienced moderate or severe depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The SEM showed that health literacy was directly associated with mental health, with higher health literacy resulting in lower levels of depression (coefficient: −0.018, p  = .049), anxiety (coefficient: −0.040, p  

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Wang & Xinying Sun & Feiying He & Chenxi Liu & Yibo Wu, 2023. "The mediating effect of family health on the relationship between health literacy and mental health: A national cross-sectional survey in China," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(6), pages 1490-1500, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:6:p:1490-1500
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640231166628
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640231166628
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640231166628?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yaqin Zhong & Elizabeth Schroeder & Yuexia Gao & Xiaojun Guo & Yuanyuan Gu, 2021. "Social Support, Health Literacy and Depressive Symptoms among Medical Students: An Analysis of Mediating Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-12, January.
    2. McDaid, David & Park, A-La & Wahlbeck, Kristian, 2019. "The economic case for the prevention of mental illness," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100054, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Lee, Shoou-Yih D. & Arozullah, Ahsan M. & Cho, Young Ik, 2004. "Health literacy, social support, and health: a research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(7), pages 1309-1321, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haomiao Li & Jingru Wang & Jiangyun Chen & Ruibo He & Rong Yang & Yibo Wu, 2025. "Measurement and Decomposition of Income-Related Inequity of Family Health in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 983-1006, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chengbo Li & Mengyao Liu & Jin Zhou & Mei Zhang & Huanchang Liu & Yuting Wu & Hui Li & George W. Leeson & Tingting Deng, 2022. "Do Health Information Sources Influence Health Literacy among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Urban Areas of Western China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Salinda Horgan & Jeanette Prorok & Katie Ellis & Laura Mullaly & Keri-Leigh Cassidy & Dallas Seitz & Claire Checkland, 2024. "Optimizing Older Adult Mental Health in Support of Healthy Ageing: A Pluralistic Framework to Inform Transformative Change across Community and Healthcare Domains," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-21, May.
    3. Ryan-Claytor, Cayley, 2025. "Web and/or MD?: Empirically testing the relationships between internet use and visits to healthcare professionals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 376(C).
    4. Buckley, Ralf & Westaway, Diane, 2020. "Mental health rescue effects of women's outdoor tourism: A role in COVID-19 recovery," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Chinn, Deborah, 2011. "Critical health literacy: A review and critical analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 60-67, July.
    6. Barata, Paula C. & Gucciardi, Enza & Ahmad, Farah & Stewart, Donna E., 2006. "Cross-cultural perspectives on research participation and informed consent," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 479-490, January.
    7. Kazuhiro Ito & Shoko Wakamiya & Masae Manabe & Yasushi Watanabe & Masataka Nakayama & Yukiko Uchida & Eiji Aramaki, 2025. "Social harmony at work: A sharedness index linking team atmosphere to individual well-being in a Japanese company," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(12), pages 1-20, December.
    8. David J. Emerson & Joseph F. Hair & Kenneth J. Smith, 2023. "Psychological Distress, Burnout, and Business Student Turnover: The Role of Resilience as a Coping Mechanism," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(2), pages 228-259, March.
    9. Ziggi Ivan Santini & Hannah Becher & Maja Bæksgaard Jørgensen & Michael Davidsen & Line Nielsen & Carsten Hinrichsen & Katrine Rich Madsen & Charlotte Meilstrup & Ai Koyanagi & Sarah Stewart-Brown & D, 2021. "Economics of mental well-being: a prospective study estimating associated health care costs and sickness benefit transfers in Denmark," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(7), pages 1053-1065, September.
    10. Yolanda Álvarez-Pérez & Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez & Amado Rivero-Santanta & Alezandra Torres-Castaño & Ana Toledo-Chávarri & Andrea Duarte-Díaz & Vinita Mahtani-Chugani & María Dolores Marrero-Díaz & , 2022. "Co-Creation of Massive Open Online Courses to Improve Digital Health Literacy in Pregnant and Lactating Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-15, January.
    11. Joy Agner & Monet Meyer & Tyra Mahealani Kaukau & Maileen Liu & Lisa Nakamura & Adriana Botero & Tetine Sentell, 2023. "Health Literacy, Social Networks, and Health Outcomes among Mental Health Clubhouse Members in Hawai‘i," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, January.
    12. Cho, Young Ik & Lee, Shoou-Yih D. & Arozullah, Ahsan M. & Crittenden, Kathleen S., 2008. "Effects of health literacy on health status and health service utilization amongst the elderly," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1809-1816, April.
    13. Suryanaryana Murty Upadhyayula & Srinivasa Rao Mutheneni & Madhusudhan Rao Kadiri & Sriram Kumaraswamy & Balakrishna Nagalla, 2012. "A Cohort Study of Lymphatic Filariasis on Socio Economic Conditions in Andhra Pradesh, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(3), pages 1-8, March.
    14. Monica Aureliana Petcu & Maria Iulia Sobolevschi-David & Raluca Florentina Crețu & Stefania Cristina Curea & Anca Maria Hristea & Mihaela Diana Oancea-Negescu & Daniela Tutui, 2023. "Telework: A Social and Emotional Perspective of the Impact on Employees’ Wellbeing in the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-18, January.
    15. Bas Geboers & Sijmen A. Reijneveld & Jaap A. R. Koot & Andrea F. De Winter, 2018. "Moving towards a Comprehensive Approach for Health Literacy Interventions: The Development of a Health Literacy Intervention Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, June.
    16. Ralf C. Buckley, 2022. "Sensory and Emotional Components in Tourist Memories of Wildlife Encounters: Intense, Detailed, and Long-Lasting Recollections of Individual Incidents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-12, April.
    17. Ralf C. Buckley & Mary-Ann Cooper, 2022. "Tourism as a Tool in Nature-Based Mental Health: Progress and Prospects Post-Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.
    18. Dong, Gang Nathan, 2016. "Social capital as correlate, antecedent, and consequence of health service demand in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 85-96.
    19. Imelda Avecillas-Torres & Sebastián Herrera-Puente & Miguel Galarza-Cordero & Fernanda Coello-Nieto & Karina Farfán-Pacheco & Byron Alvarado-Vanegas & Stephany Ordóñez-Ordóñez & Freddy Espinoza-Figuer, 2025. "Nature Tourism and Mental Well-Being: Insights from a Controlled Context on Reducing Depression, Anxiety, and Stress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    20. Henstock, Luke & Johnson, Rebecca & Kinghorn, Philip & Beach, Derek & Al-Janabi, Hareth, 2025. "Why and how do workplaces invest in mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and process tracing study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:6:p:1490-1500. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.