Evaluation of the Relationship between Health Literacy and High-risk Behaviors Due to the Mediating Deficit of Positive Adolescent Development among Adolescent in West Azerbaijan Province

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between health literacy and high-risk behaviors with respect to the mediating role of positive adolescent development among students in West Azerbaijan province.

The research method was descriptive-correlational modeling of structural equations. The statistical population of this study was all high school girls and boys in West Azerbaijan province with the age range of 11 to 18 years who were studying in the 2019-20 academic year. 560 people were selected from the statistical sample by cluster random sampling as a research sample. Research scales were Iranian Adolescents Risk Scale (Zade Mohammadi, Ahmadabadi, Heidari, 2011), Adolescent Positive Development Scale (Geldhof, et al, 2014), Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (Ghanbari, Ramezankhani, Mehrabi, Montazeri, 2015). Structural equation modeling and AMOS software were used to investigate the causal relationships between the variables of the present study.

The findings of the present study showed that there was a significant direct relationship between health literacy and tendency to high-risk behaviors in adolescents (p <0.05). There was also a significant direct relationship between health literacy and adolescent positive development in adolescents (p <0.05). There was a significant indirect relationship between health literacy and tendency to high-risk behaviors mediated by positive adolescent development (p <0.05).

Health literacy and positive development of adolescence reduces risky behaviors among adolescents. Accordingly, health literacy by providing cognitive resources, positive adolescent development by improving the processing of cognitive processes related to health and the growth of health resources and opportunities, causes Adolescents become less prone to risky behaviors.