University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, Austria.
University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, Austria.
Public Health. 2019 Sep;174:74-82. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2019.05.033. Epub 2019 Jul 16.
Tobacco use and alcohol use have their origin in adolescence, and risky use of these substances is amongst the leading preventable causes of morbidity and mortality. Health literacy (HL) encompasses the skills that are decisive to make appropriate health decisions in this context. Given the paucity of evidence on the link between HL and adolescents' health behaviors, the present study examined overall HL and different components of HL and their associations with smoking and alcohol use among 13 to 17-year-old Austrian students.
Data were obtained from a national survey carried out in Austria (N = 4219; 56% females) as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: World Health Organization (WHO) collaborative cross-national study.
We tested two structural equation models, one including the overall HL scale as the predictor and one with the three subscales of HL 'finding,' 'understanding and appraising,' and 'applying' health-related information as predictors of smoking and alcohol use.
Although overall HL was related to all indicators of adolescents' smoking and drinking, the three HL components had differential effects on these behaviors. The easier it was for the participants to 'understand and appraise' and 'apply' health-related information, the less frequently they had smoked and drunk alcohol and the less was the amount of alcohol they had consumed. Contrarily, the easier it was for the participants to 'find' information, the more they had smoked and drunk alcohol.
Our results indicate that availability of health-related information may be insufficient on its own to prevent or reduce risky substance use. This is of particular importance for the development and improvement of primary prevention programs targeting adolescent populations.
吸烟和饮酒始于青少年时期，而这些物质的危险使用是导致发病和死亡的主要可预防原因之一。健康素养（HL）包括在这种情况下做出适当健康决策的关键技能。鉴于 HL 与青少年健康行为之间的联系证据不足，本研究调查了奥地利 13 至 17 岁学生的总体 HL 以及 HL 的不同组成部分及其与吸烟和饮酒的关系。
数据来自奥地利全国调查（N=4219；女性占 56%），作为世界卫生组织（WHO）合作的学校儿童健康行为的跨国研究的一部分。
我们测试了两个结构方程模型，一个将总体 HL 量表作为预测因子，另一个将 HL 的三个子量表“查找”、“理解和评估”以及“应用”健康相关信息作为预测吸烟和饮酒的因子。
尽管总体 HL 与青少年吸烟和饮酒的所有指标都相关，但 HL 的三个组成部分对这些行为有不同的影响。参与者越容易“理解和评估”以及“应用”健康相关信息，吸烟和饮酒的频率就越低，饮酒量也越少。相反，参与者越容易“查找”信息，吸烟和饮酒的次数就越多。
我们的结果表明，仅提供健康相关信息本身可能不足以预防或减少危险物质的使用。这对于针对青少年人群的初级预防计划的制定和改进尤为重要。
