Associations of health literacy and sleep quality with depressive symptoms in Turkish adolescents: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the associations of health literacy and sleep quality with depressive symptoms in adolescents. Design and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 1081 high school students in Turkey. The data were collected online using the Health Literacy for School-Aged Children Scale, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children. The chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data obtained from the scales. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms, sleep problems, and low health literacy was 78.4%, 70.6%, and 11.3%, respectively. Sleep problems were significantly positively correlated with depressive symptoms (OR = 4.187, 95% CI: 2.998 -5.848). The students who were experiencing sleep problems and had low health literacy were at risk of the most severe depressive symptoms (OR = 12.696, 95% CI: 5.122-31.474). Conclusions: Overall, depressive symptoms and sleep problems were common among the adolescents in the study sample. The students who had sleep problems and low health literacy were at an increased risk for depressive symptoms. Practical implications: To prevent mental health problems in adolescents, intervention programs focused on increasing the health literacy levels and improving sleep quality in this population are recommended. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier Inc.