Major differences in the relationship between electronic health literacy, social capital and negative mental health states among the university students in China

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between electronic health literacy (eHealth literacy), social capital and negative mental health statesamong Chinese university students, and further clarify its major disparities. Methods The data was gathered from Chinese university students via Wenjuan.com using the snowball sampling method. Data from 1472 participants were analyzed, with 665 (45.18%) medical students (MS) and 807 (54.82%) non-medical students (NMS). Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was utilized to assess negative mental health states, eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) to measure eHealth literacy, and Chinese Shortened Social Capital Scale (CSSCS) to evaluate social capital. To explore the relationships among eHealth literacy, social capital and negative mental health states, SPSS was used for descriptive analysis, chi-square tests and t-tests, and AMOS was used for structural equation modeling (SEM). Results Total scores of negative mental health states was 30.87 ± 26.72 (25.26 ± 24.86 for MS, 35.49 ± 27.33 for NMS). eHealth literacy was significantly positively associated with negative mental health states in MS but not significant among NMS. Social capital was negatively associated with negative mental health states among MS and NMS. eHealth literacy showed a significant positive association with social capital among MS and NMS. Conclusion NMS reported higher negative mental health states than MS. Higher eHealth literacy was significantly correlated with higher negative mental health states in MS but not significant in NMS. Higher social capital was linked to lower negative mental health states among the MS and NMS. eHealth literacy in both MS and NMS showed a significant positive correlation with social capital.