Mental health literacy as a mediator between parental and adolescent depression and anxiety in Chinese resource-poor region.

Adolescents' depression and anxiety symptoms were negatively associated with both their own and their parents' mental health literacy.

• Cross-sectional study conducted in Guizhou Province, China, a resource-poor region, between September 2023 and March 2024.
• Data collected from 4632 adolescents and 4412 parents via online questionnaires.
• Adolescent MHL was measured using the Mental Health Literacy Scale; adolescent depression with the Children's Depression Inventory; adolescent anxiety with the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders.
• Higher MHL in both parents and adolescents was associated with lower depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.

Parental depression was significantly associated with adolescents' depression and anxiety.

• Parental mental health was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for depression.
• The association between parental depression and both adolescent depression and adolescent anxiety was statistically significant.
• Sample included 4412 parents participating in the study.
• This finding supports an intergenerational transmission pattern of depression symptoms from parents to adolescents.

Parental anxiety was associated with both adolescents' depression and adolescents' anxiety.

• Parental anxiety was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD).
• The association between parental anxiety and adolescent depression and anxiety was statistically significant.
• This finding indicates cross-symptom intergenerational transmission, with parental anxiety linked to both depressive and anxious outcomes in offspring.

Both parents' and adolescents' mental health literacy mediated the associations between parental depression and adolescents' depression and anxiety.

• Mediation model analysis was used to test MHL as a mediator.
• Parents' MHL served as a mediator between parental depression and adolescent depression.
• Parents' MHL also served as a mediator between parental depression and adolescent anxiety.
• Adolescents' own MHL additionally mediated the associations between parental depression and adolescent depression and anxiety.

Parents' mental health literacy mediated the associations between parental anxiety and adolescents' depression and anxiety.

• Parents' MHL was identified as a mediator in the pathway from parental anxiety to adolescent depression.
• Parents' MHL was also identified as a mediator in the pathway from parental anxiety to adolescent anxiety.
• The mediation analysis highlights parental MHL as a mechanism through which parental anxiety influences adolescent mental health outcomes.
• The study emphasizes 'awareness of mental illness recognition, seeking information, the availability of professional help, and stigmatizing attitudes towards mental disorders as key areas for intervention.'

Mental health literacy was identified as a potential protective mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of mental health problems in a resource-limited setting.

• The study was conducted in Guizhou Province, described as a 'resource-poor region' of China.
• MHL was measured for both parents and adolescents using the Mental Health Literacy Scale.
• The findings suggest MHL 'may play a protective role' in disrupting the intergenerational cycle of mental health challenges.
• Key intervention areas identified include mental illness recognition, help-seeking behaviors, availability of professional help, and stigma reduction.