There is an “infodemic” associated with the COVID-19 pandemic—an overabundance of valid and invalid information. Health literacy is the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information, making it crucial for navigating coronavirus and COVID-19 information environments. A cross-sectional representative study of participants ≥ 16 years in Germany was conducted using an online survey. A coronavirus-related health literacy measure was developed (HLS-COVID-Q22). Internal consistency was very high (α = 0.940; ρ = 0.891) and construct validity suggests a sufficient model fit, making HLS-COVID-Q22 a feasible tool for assessing coronavirus-related health literacy in population surveys. While 49.9% of our sample had sufficient levels of coronavirus-related health literacy, 50.1% had “problematic” (15.2%) or “inadequate” (34.9%) levels. Although the overall level of health literacy is high, a vast number of participants report difficulties dealing with coronavirus and COVID-19 information. The participants felt well informed about coronavirus, but 47.8% reported having difficulties judging whether they could trust media information on COVID-19. Confusion about coronavirus information was significantly higher among those who had lower health literacy. This calls for targeted public information campaigns and promotion of population-based health literacy for better navigation of information environments during the infodemic, identification of disinformation, and decision-making based on reliable and trustworthy information.

Health literacy is of increasing importance in public health research. It is a necessary pre-condition for the involvement in decisions about health and health care and related to health outcomes. Knowledge about limited health literacy in different age groups is crucial to better target public health interventions for subgroups of the population. However, little is known about health literacy in Germany. The study therefore assesses the prevalence of limited health literacy and associated factors among different age groups. The Health Literacy Survey Germany is a cross-sectional study with 2,000 participants aged 15 years or older in private households. Perceived health literacy was assessed via computer-assisted personal interviews using the HLS-EU-Q-47 questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, chi-square tests and odds ratios were performed stratified for different age groups. The population affected by limited perceived health literacy increases by age. Of the respondents aged 15–29 years, 47.3 % had limited perceived health literacy and 47.2 % of those aged 30–45 years, whereas 55.2 % of the respondents aged 46–64 years and 66.4 % aged 65 years and older showed limited perceived health literacy. In all age groups, limited perceived health literacy was associated with limited functional health literacy, low social status, and a high frequency of doctor visits. The results suggest a need to further investigate perceived health literacy in all phases of the life-course. Particular attention should be devoted to persons with lower social status, limited functional health literacy and/or a high number of doctor visits in all age groups.

In highly developed countries, the adolescent phase of life is expanding more and more. The consequences are status insecurity and inconsistency. A side effect is that adolescence is no longer clearly separable as demarcated biographical stage from adulthood. In this paper, we argue that the developmental tasks of a typical adolescent and a typical adult can only be partially differentiated, and the exact point in time when adolescents become adults can no longer be clearly identified. We find evidence that adolescence is becoming more ‘adult’ and adulthood is correspondingly becoming more ‘juvenile’. In almost all important social areas of life, the behavioral patterns of adults and of adolescents are coalescing. Living with insecurity in the working life and in social relations, experiencing limitations of personal autonomy, and the continuous need to work on social status inconsistencies today are characteristic features of the life of adolescents and adults. As many adolescents meet these demands skillfully and flexibly, they have in many respects become ‘social models’ for the adult life phase.

Zusammenfassung: Ziel In dem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse von zwei Erhebungen der Gesundheitskompetenz (GK) der Bevölkerung in Deutschland im Zeitvergleich analysiert. Die erste Erhebung erfolgte 2014, die zweite 2020. Untersucht werden die Veränderungen der GK, gemessen über den Grad der subjektiv eingeschätzten Schwierigkeiten bei einzelnen Informationsaufgaben in den drei Bereichen Krankheitsbewältigung/Versorgung, Prävention, Gesundheitsförderung, in der Gesamtbevölkerung und in einzelnen Teilgruppen. Methodik Die Analysen basieren auf bevölkerungsrepräsentativen Querschnittsdaten, die 2014 im HLS-GER 1 und 2020 im HLS-GER 1‘ erhoben wurden. Dabei kam das international abgestimmte Instrument HLS-EU-Q47 zur Messung der GK zum Einsatz. Veränderungen in den Bevölkerungsgruppen wurden in einer Trendanalyse sowohl uni- und bivariat als auch multivariat analysiert. Ergebnisse Die GK der Bevölkerung in Deutschland hat sich im Zeitvergleich innerhalb von sechs Jahren statistisch signifikant verschlechtert. Dies lässt sich in allen drei untersuchten Handlungsbereichen beobachten. Der Effekt zeigt sich besonders bei Menschen mit niedrigem Sozialstatus und finanzieller Deprivation. Schlussfolgerung Im Zeitverlauf ist der Umgang mit gesundheits- und krankheitsbezogenen Informationen schwieriger geworden. Diese Entwicklung ist besonders stark bei sozioökonomisch benachteiligten Bevölkerungsgruppen zu beobachten, was die soziale Ungleichheit im Gesundheitsbereich verstärkt. Die Förderung der GK ist – wie diese und andere Studien zeigen – gesellschaftlich wichtiger denn je und sollte den genannten Bevölkerungsgruppen besondere Beachtung schenken.