Health Literacy and Mental Health in Adolescents: Parental and Self-Reported Cross-Sectional Data in a Bilingual Region

Background/Objectives: Improving the health literacy (HL) of adolescents and parents is an actual theme and needs detailed investigation in a bilingual region. Methods: In this cross-sectional school-recruited sample, parental and adolescent HL were associated with adolescent mental health screening outcomes. Exploratory indirect-effect models suggested possible pathways for future longitudinal research. About 3229 questionnaires provided information. Standardized internationally validated instruments were used. Parental and self-reported data were compared; the associations of HL with social support, problematic Internet use, questionnaire language, and mental health screening outcomes were explored. Results: Adolescents’ HL was associated with questionnaire language, with higher scores observed for German (23.1% high HL) than for Italian (14.3%). Higher levels of HL among both parents and adolescents were related to better mental health screening outcomes in adolescents with higher associations to adolescents’ HL. Social support and problematic Internet use were associated with both mental health screening outcomes and parental- and self-reported HL. HL related partly to the observed. Higher parental education was related to better parental HL and higher parental response rates. Conclusions: Enhancing HL among parents and adolescents through school-based programs needs language and education specific interventions. In the bilingual context of South Tyrol, the introduction of a bilingual program needs to be accompanied by scientific investigations, targeting language specific needs and differences. Existing international German school-based programs can be the basis for developing interventions to fit the Italian healthcare and educational system. South Tyrol offers the unique opportunity to introduce a scientific-based bilingual HL concept at schools. Enhancing information seeking and appraisal strategies in adolescents may be essential.