ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Social Support, Health Literacy and Depressive Symptoms among Medical Students: An Analysis of Mediating Effects.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Health Literacy among Medical Students: A Systematic Review.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- The prevalence and risk factors of mental problems in medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of health literacy interventions on anxious and depressive symptomatology in primary health care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Traditional Chinese medicine health literacy and depressive symptoms in postpartum women: the sequential mediating effects of social support and self-efficacy.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Health literacy and influencing factors in university students across diverse educational fields in Kazakhstan.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Health literacy and psychological wellbeing of employees working from home in Germany-online survey results.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Correlation between psychological stress and depressive symptoms among Japanese university students: a cross-sectional analysis.Journal of physical therapy science · 2024Article
- General, Vaccination, Navigational and Digital Health Literacy of Students Enrolled in Different Medical and Health Educational Programs.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Factors related to health literacy among Brazilian adolescents: cross-sectional study.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2024Article
- Analysis of influencing factors of job demands of healthcare workers working in mobile cabin hospitals in China.Nursing open · 2023Article
- Moderating role of mental health literacy on the relationship between bullying victimization during the life course and symptoms of anxiety and depression in Chinese college students.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Health literacy at work - individual and organizational health literacy, health supporting leadership and employee wellbeing.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Telework: A Social and Emotional Perspective of the Impact on Employees' Wellbeing in the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Social Support Mediates the Relationship Between Coping Styles and the Mental Health of Medical Students.Psychology research and behavior management · 2023Article
- Parental care and depressive symptoms among Chinese medical students: roles of empathy and gender.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Associations between health literacy, cognitive function and general literacy in people with schizophrenia attending community mental health clinics in Australia.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Association of health literacy, COVID-19 threat, and vaccination intention among Brazilian adolescents.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Depressive symptoms are prevalent in university students and may impair their social, educational, and economic transition into adulthood. Identifying the factors that determine depressive symptoms is crucial for the design of effective policy interventions. This study aims to examine the associations between health literacy and depressive symptoms among medical students, and to evaluate the effect of different types of social support as a potential mediator. A cross-sectional survey of medical students was conducted through convenience sampling in East China. Associations between variables were explored using OLS and the mediation effect was estimated using the Karlson, Holm and Breen method. A total of 746 valid questionnaires were collected. The prevalence of depressive symptoms among the sample was 32.4%. Higher health literacy levels and social supports were significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Social support partially mediated the association between health literacy and depressive symptoms, accounting for a 54.03% of the total effect size. These findings suggest that interventions for medical student mental wellbeing could improve health literacy. Whilst family support reflects greatest impact, Universities can also lead and innovate novel interventions for this critical stage of life. Future research can extend this study by exploring the dynamic interactions between health literacy, depressive symptoms, and other sources of social support. Comparisons of these findings across the different regions of China and in other university subject disciplines are also warranted.
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