Associations between Adolescents' Mental Health Literacy and Subjective Well-Being: The Potential Mediating Role of Positive Youth Development

Background: While the link between mental health literacy and subjective well-being has been well documented in adolescents, the potential mediating mechanism remains less explored. This cross-sectional correlational study examined whether positive youth development (PYD), statistically mediates the association between adolescents’ mental health literacy, Mental health literacy (MHL), and subjective well-being, Subjective well-being (SWB). Methods: A school-based sample of 457 adolescents, 220 females, mean age = 15.29 years, SD = 0.50, from Hunan Province, China completed the Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents (UMHL-A), the Very Short Form of the 5Cs Positive Youth Development Scale (PYD-VSF), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from two secondary schools. Correlational analyses showed that MHL was positively correlated with PYD, the SWB index, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and negatively correlated with negative affect. Results: Mediation analyses using Process Model 4, controlling for age, gender, and rural–urban status, indicated that PYD statistically mediated the associations of MHL with global SWB and life satisfaction. For positive and negative affect, the direct associations between MHL and affective outcomes became non-significant after PYD was included in the model. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence that PYD may be an important developmental asset linking MHL with adolescent well-being. However, since the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, longitudinal and intervention studies are required to test causal pathways.