What Influences Mental Illness? Discrepancies Between Medical Education and Conception

Health literacy and mental well-being among university students in the United States

Objective: Exploration of the relationship between mental health constructs and physical health constructs can help practitioners better understand the mental health of vulnerable populations, such as college students in the United States. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the connection between mental well-being and health literacy of US college students. Participants: The sample included 410 undergraduate students (63% white; 71% female) attending universities across the United States. Methods: Participants completed the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Univariate and bivariate statistics were observed for all study variables, and three linear regression models were run to see whether functional, communicative, and/or critical health literacy scores predicted mental well-being. Conclusions: Findings suggest that health literacy was associated with improved mental well-being among US college students, which has implications for health programming at US universities, such as the coordination of physical and mental healthcare.

The Critical Need for a Population Health Approach: Addressing the Nation's Behavioral Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

The COVID-19 global pandemic highlights the necessity for a population health approach to identify and implement strategies across systems to improve behavioral health. Adopting a population health approach helps to address the needs of the total population, including at-risk subgroups, through multiple levels of intervention and to promote the public’s behavioral health and psychological well-being.