Determination of mental well-being in school-aged adolescents and mental health literacy levels among students and teachers in Eskişehir

Bal, M. Determination of Mental Well-being in School-aged Adolescents and Mental Health Literacy Levels among Students and Teachers in Eskişehir, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Medical Speciality Thesis in Department of Public Health, Eskişehir, 2025. The study aims to determine the levels of psychological well-being, resilience, and mental health literacy (MHL) as fundamental indicators of mental health, and to identify the associated factors among students aged 10–16. For this purpose, a methodological study was initially conducted with 833 students to perform the Turkish validity and reliability analysis of the "Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents" in order to assess MHL in the target age group. In the second stage, a cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2024–2025 academic year among 5,225 students and 392 teachers in schools selected through multi-stage and randomized sampling according to the districts and socioeconomic status strata of the city. Multinomial logistic regression determined variables associated with psychological well-being, while Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) examined relationships between primary indicators. High levels of psychological well-being (23.4%), resilience (18.6%), and sufficient MHL (23.4%) were identified in students. The likelihood of high psychological well-being was found to be higher among male students and those with over 8 hours of daily sleep, high weekly physical activity frequency, high resilience levels, and sufficient MHL attitude levels, but decreased with age and higher MHL knowledge. SEM demonstrated that resilience significantly predicted MHL sub-dimensions and psychological well-being, with the structural model explaining 73.5% of the variance in psychological well-being (R²= 0.735). Nearly 20% of the teachers were found to have sufficient MHL levels. The likelihood of having sufficient MHL was higher among female teachers, those working in primary schools, single individuals, those with a history of students diagnosed with mental disorders, social media users, and those with sufficient self-perceived MHL levels. It was concluded that regular monitoring of key mental health indicators during adolescence is essential, and programs focused on mental health promotion and empowerment should be integrated into school mental health services. Key Words: child and adolescent mental health, teacher, psychological well-being, psychological resilience, mental health literacy