Discrepancies in Hispanic adolescents' and mothers' cultural beliefs and adolescent health behavior

Adolescence is a critical period for the adoption of behaviors relevant to health. While the level of risk taking among adolescents and the inter-relatedness of risk behaviors is well documented in the literature, there is little known about the differences that may exist among ethnic groups, and the role cultural beliefs exert on such behaviors. The research literature has linked Hispanic adolescent acculturation levels with high risk behaviors; however, the role of cultural beliefs (i.e., familism and cultural health beliefs) has not been addressed. In particular, the degree to which Hispanic parents and adolescents share similar cultural beliefs which may influence health behaviors remains unexplored. Therefore, the current study sought to: (a) determine whether differences exist between Hispanic adolescents and their parents in cultural beliefs, (b) determine the extent to which differences in cultural beliefs is related to parent/adolescent acculturation differences, and (c) determine the relationship between adolescent health behaviors and parent/adolescent cultural belief differences.; Ninety-eight Hispanic mothers/female guardians and their adolescent were recruited for this study. Participants completed a series of self-report questionnaires. Results revealed statistically significant differences between Hispanic parents and adolescents in their perception of familism and health beliefs, with parents predominantly endorsing higher levels of perceived familism and greater beliefs in negative health outcomes due to external forces beyond one's control. Significant differences were also found between parents and adolescents in acculturation, with adolescents endorsing lower Hispanic acculturation compared to their parents. Interestingly, acculturation differences were not significantly related to parent/adolescent discrepancies in cultural beliefs.; Regression analyses indicated that adolescent preventive behavior was not significantly predicted by parent/adolescent cultural belief differences in the final model. Only parent/adolescent differences in equity attribution were found to significantly predict adolescent treatment behavior. Parent/adolescent differences in perceived familism and differences in Hispanic acculturation were found to significantly predict adolescent perceived medical compliance. Results provide evidence suggesting Hispanic parents and adolescents may exhibit differences in their cultural beliefs, which appear to impact particular aspects of adolescent health behaviors. However, the direct relation of such differences on health behavior warrants further investigation.