Whether or not an emerging adult (EA) chooses to share or deny information about their health or medical decisions can depend on several complex factors, including the type of relationship they have with their parents and whether they feel their way of life will be accepted by their parents, according toresearch published November 23, 2021, in theWestern Journal of Communication.
在美国，一旦您年满18岁，至少在法律上，分享或拒绝有关您的健康和医疗决定的信息取决于您，尽管情况的现实通常不太削减，并且- 干燥。
Under the Affordable Care Act, a person can stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26 years old, a benefit that approximately 7.8 million (approximately one out of four) emerging adults use, according to theCommonwealth Fund，非营利性医疗保健资源组织。这种财务责任以及健康的父母关注，使许多父母相信他们应该拥有知识，甚至对后代的健康决定投入。
父母和孩子之间的公开沟通可以改善医疗服务
There are many reasons why it’s important for emerging adults to have open communication with their parents about health issues and medical treatment, says凯瑟琳·拉弗蒂（Katherine Rafferty），博士， 一个n associate teaching professor of psychology and communication studies at Iowa State University in Ames and a coauthor of the study.
“一个明显的理由是，我们知道许多健康问题具有遗传成分，这意味着爸爸妈妈或祖父母可能患有相同的状况。精神健康状况，例如抑郁或焦虑，是很好的例子。” Rafferty博士说。
If there’s open dialogue and conversation between parents and children about their family medical history, not only does that give the EA an awareness of what health issues they might be predisposed to, it can also comfort them to know they aren’t alone in dealing with this issue, she says.
“The parent may be able to offer great advice and insights on treatment options or things that may help or exacerbate the condition,” says Rafferty.
她说，对癌症家族史的认识将使新兴的成年人能够准确地完成其提供者的健康史。“这是在合适的年龄进行适当筛查以帮助癌症或疾病预防的重要组成部分。”
If Parents Are Open About Their Health Issues, Their Children Are More Likely to Reciprocate
The study included a total of 316 emerging adults who were currently enrolled in college. Participants were an average of 20 years old, 33 percent male and 67 percent female, and 89 percent were undergraduate students.
Approximately four out of five participants were non-Hispanic white, heterosexual, and from a nuclear family (two parents living with children). The majority of students weren’t financially responsible for their health insurance copay or bills not covered by insurance.
Most students did not report a chronic health condition; in the 22 percent who did, anxiety or depression was the most frequently reported condition.
Participants completed a survey in which they were asked questions about their health and whether they had shared or withheld health information with either or both parents. To identify what factors may influence openness about health issues, questions about trust, supportiveness, and relationship quality were included.
调查人员将几个因素确定为对新兴成人是否向父母披露健康信息的最大影响。
Emerging adults who perceived their parents as being open and respectful were more likely to talk about health issues, and these conversations tended to happen much more frequently with mothers than with fathers.
“关系质量很重要，这是基于对新兴成年人的看法，因此父母的看法可能有所不同。如果EA认为他们有质量的关系，那么他们更有可能开放并分享任何健康问题。” Rafferty说。
“We call this reciprocity. Emerging adults were much more likely to talk to their parents about their health if their parents shared health information with them as they were growing up,” she says.
The reverse is true as well — when parents are less open and more private about health-related matters, their children as likely to follow suit, adds Rafferty.
符合社会“规范”的压力使年轻人不太可能分享
Emerging adults’ willingness to discuss more “charged” health issues, such as ones that relate to sexual behaviors, depended on how much pressure they felt to conform to their parents’ values and desires.
那些想保护与父亲建立关系的人更有可能向他们隐瞒私人健康信息，尤其是当他们来自具有“高素质取向”的家庭。但是研究人员发现，这并不影响EA与母亲谈论私人健康问题的意愿。
“Based on my experiences as a therapist, these findings make sense,” saysAllison Young, MD， 一个精神科医生and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City who was not involved in the research and who serves as a medical reviewer for Everyday Health.
“I worked at New York University at a mental health clinic, and a number of students I saw wanted to seek mental health care when they were in high school but their parents didn’t believe in it, or the student didn’t feel comfortable disclosing to them that they were struggling with a mental health issue,” she says. As a result, these emerging adults waited until they got to college to seek treatment, says Dr. Young.
“The strong need to conform to their family’s values was a big theme for many emerging adults that I saw. If a parent didn’t believe that therapy was necessary or effective, the student would typically be reluctant to share with them that they were in therapy,” she says.
Young说，进一步的研究包括种族和种族多样化的人群将有助于我们知道这些发现在一个较不统一的群体中是否会成立。她说：“以我的经验，这里发现的有关关系，互惠和顺从性的许多问题似乎对跨文化的人们来说是正确的。”
为新兴的成年人准备自己的健康
拉弗蒂说，这些发现为父母提供了有用的信息。她说：“您的榜样以及如何谈论或不谈论这些事情将塑造您的孩子将来如何处理有关健康问题的对话。”
她说，要纳入新兴的成年人生活中的情况，尤其是他们的健康问题，促进质量的关系并分享自己的健康状况。“这将有助于他们成为知识渊博的健康倡导者。”
如果你是一个新兴famil长大成人y that didn't discuss healthcare topics, be aware of certain habits or patterns you may have picked up from your parents that you can try to overcome, she says. “You may have to be more proactive in getting information about your family’s health history, but it’s still important to do so.”
