Parenting style influence on adolescent health media use and online health literacy skills
Abstract
This study was designed to examine the relationship between parenting styles (i.e., authoritative, authoritarian, permissive), early (ages 13–15 years) and late (ages 16–18 years) adolescents’ frequency of online health information seeking behavior, and adolescent online health literacy skills. Specifically, parents’ use of mediation tactics, solicitation for youth disclosure, and attitude toward their role as a health educator were examined as potential mediators of this relationship. Mothers and their adolescent children, ages 13–15 and 16–18 years, completed separate online questionnaires. The results of a path analysis indicated that authoritarian and permissive parenting style positively predicted adolescent online health searching frequency, and that authoritative parenting style positively predicted adolescent online health literacy skills. These relationships also were mediated by solicitation for youth disclosure (e.g., the relationship between authoritarian and online health information searching frequency) and mothers’ use of mediation tactics (e.g., the relationship between authoritative and online health literacy skills). Parent attitude toward their role as a health educator was not a mediator of these relationships. No significant developmental differences were found in the path models. No effect of gender was found. Collectively, these findings suggest that parenting factors do influence both adolescent online health searching frequency and literacy skills.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Health education|Information science
Recommended Citation
Huntington, Brittney James, "Parenting style influence on adolescent health media use and online health literacy skills" (2016). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10000730.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10000730
