Findings Toward a Multidimensional Measure of Adolescent Health Literacy

OBJECTIVE: To explore a multidimensional measure of health literacy that incorporates skills necessary to manage one's health environment. METHODS: We designed a questionnaire to assess variation in an expanded understanding of health literacy among publicly insured adolescents in California (N = 1208) regarding their health care experiences and insurance. RESULTS: Factor loading and item clustering patterns reflected in the exploratory principal components factor analysis suggest that the data are parsimoniously described by 6 domains. CONCLUSION: This multidimensional measure becomes relevant in an era of health care reform in which many will for the first time have health insurance requiring them to navigate a system that uses a managed care model.