Determination of psychological distress and mental HEALTH literacy levels in adults

METHODS: The cross-sectional type of research was conducted online between 27.11.2020 and 30.12.2020. The sample of study consists of 531 individuals who were reached online, using the snowball methos. In addition to personel information form, Kessler Psychological Distress and Mental Health Literacy Scale were used for data Collection. Number and percentage of data, mean, standart deviation and median values were used in the statistical evaluation. Mann Whitney U, Kruskall Wallis, t test, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Spearman Correlation Analysis were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: 75.7% of the participants were female, the mean age was 33.71±13.63 and 58.0% had a high school or lower level of education. While 16,8% of the individuals had a chronic disease, 10.4% of them had a mental health-related illness. As a result of the research, it was determined that 65.2% of the individuals were in the score range of (30-50) which would indicate a diagnosable illness related to mental health. The Average score of the mental health literacy scale was 107.50±13.13. The psychological distress scores of the participants who were male, were in older age groups and were employed were with higher scores. Similarly, participants with an associate degree or higher education level, with a chronic disease, with no mental illness also received higher scores. People with no alcohol use, none-smokers, people with no sleeping disorders and who had no difference in their workload at home during the last six months received high scores from the psychological distress survey. CONCLUSION: As a result of the research, it was determined that approximately three out of every five participant had an identifiable psychological distress and their mental health literacy was weak. Further research with larger samples and in-dept analyses is recommended to determine causes of the of psychological distress in the society. In order to improve the mental health literacy certain intervention programs, education and training programs can be planned. KEYWORDS: Adults, Psychological distress, Community mental health, Mental health literacy, Community health nursing