Hiu-Fai Fong1, Emily F Rothman2, Andrew Garner3, Sharon R Ghazarian4, Debra S Morley5, Amanda Singerman5, Megan H Bair-Merritt6. 1. Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: hiu-fai.fong@childrens.harvard.edu. 2. Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. 3. Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH. 4. Health Informatics Core, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL. 5. Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA. 6. Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA; Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether health literacy was associated with parental self-efficacy in a diverse sample of parents of newborns. We hypothesized that parents with lower health literacy would have lower parental self-efficacy. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline surveys from 253 English and Spanish speaking parents >18 years old with newborns <28 days old enrolled in a trial testing a multisite primary care-based parenting intervention. Surveys assessed parental, child, and environmental characteristics, and used validated instruments to measure health literacy and parental self-efficacy (total and 4 subtypes). Bivariate analyses identified parental, child, and environmental characteristics associated with parental self-efficacy. Multivariable linear regression models examined the associations between health literacy and parental self-efficacy, adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Parents (median age, 29 years) were 92.1% female, 54.5% black/African American, and 29.6% Hispanic/Latino. More than one-half (58.9%) had completed some college education or more, 49.0% spoke mostly English, and 16.2% had low health literacy. In bivariate analyses, parental self-efficacy was significantly lower in parents with fewer household residents. In multivariable analyses, parents with low compared with high health literacy had significantly lower parental self-efficacy scores (total and 4 subtypes including caretaking procedures, evoking behaviors, reading behaviors and signaling, and situational beliefs). CONCLUSIONS: Lower health literacy was associated with lower parental self-efficacy in parents of newborns. To maximize impact on positive parenting behaviors and child outcomes, interventions assisting parents with low parental self-efficacy should consider strategies to address low health literacy.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether health literacy was associated with parental self-efficacy in a diverse sample of parents of newborns. We hypothesized that parents with lower health literacy would have lower parental self-efficacy. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline surveys from 253 English and Spanish speaking parents >18 years old with newborns <28 days old enrolled in a trial testing a multisite primary care-based parenting intervention. Surveys assessed parental, child, and environmental characteristics, and used validated instruments to measure health literacy and parental self-efficacy (total and 4 subtypes). Bivariate analyses identified parental, child, and environmental characteristics associated with parental self-efficacy. Multivariable linear regression models examined the associations between health literacy and parental self-efficacy, adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Parents (median age, 29 years) were 92.1% female, 54.5% black/African American, and 29.6% Hispanic/Latino. More than one-half (58.9%) had completed some college education or more, 49.0% spoke mostly English, and 16.2% had low health literacy. In bivariate analyses, parental self-efficacy was significantly lower in parents with fewer household residents. In multivariable analyses, parents with low compared with high health literacy had significantly lower parental self-efficacy scores (total and 4 subtypes including caretaking procedures, evoking behaviors, reading behaviors and signaling, and situational beliefs). CONCLUSIONS: Lower health literacy was associated with lower parental self-efficacy in parents of newborns. To maximize impact on positive parenting behaviors and child outcomes, interventions assisting parents with low parental self-efficacy should consider strategies to address low health literacy.
Authors: Jessica S Bahorski; Gwendolyn D Childs; Lori A Loan; Andres Azuero; Marti H Rice; Paula C Chandler-Laney; Eric A Hodges; Heather M Wasser; Amanda L Thompson; Margaret E Bentley Journal: West J Nurs Res Date: 2019-06-06 Impact factor: 1.967