Understanding Parental Theories about Children's Health.

[摘要] Using a comparative ethnographic design, 19 mothers and fathers of children aged 13 to 15 years were interviewed on their lay theories of health and illness of adolescents. Participants were recruited through government-aided, private schools in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and included educated parents of different economic backgrounds. The interview included open-ended questions and measures like the Parental Health Locus of Control. Transcribed data was analysed in MaxQDA using an inductive thematic analysis approach. When presented with known risk conditions such as HIV/AIDS, smoking tobacco and drugs parents minimised the likelihood of these to school-going children. Their explanations were similar to le cordon sanitaire observed in persons with risky sexual behaviours. Parents viewed school as safe and reported such conditions were more likely when children enter college. In contrast, parents were more concerned about road accidents. They also associated risk to adolescent health with the influence of bad friends and mass media. These could cause premature sexual awareness in adolescent children and could possibly distract the child from the approved goal of education. Parental lay or ethnotheory pertaining to health of adolescents appeared to place an overwhelming importance on good educational choices and performance to the point where good health might sometimes be compromised to give the child an educational advantage. Children’s education also caused much stress and anxiety in terms of pressure of syllabus and inability to approach teachers with concerns.Christian parents in the sample were marginally more aware of adolescent health concerns than Hindu parents. They also had better knowledge of resources through the institutional church. No major gender influences were observed. The implications of minimising risks to adolescent health could mean that parents are less likely to recognise or seek professional help for such health conditions unless they interfered with academic work. Further, parents are more likely to rely on personal and familial resources. This indicates a need for better parent education. Social workers and health workers also need to reflect on how to reduce the stress associated with education, and how to enable and empower parents to work in greater partnership with schools.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Ethnotheory

[关键词] Lay Theory of Health;Ethnotheory;Bombay India;Adolescent Health;Le Cordon Sanitaire;Psychology;Social Work;South Asian Languages and Cultures;Health Sciences;Social Sciences;Social Work and Psychology