TitleDaily parental knowledge of youth activities is linked to youth physical symptoms and HPA functioning.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsLippold, MA, Davis, KD, McHale, SM, Almeida, DM
JournalJ Fam Psychol
Volume30
Issue2
Pagination245-53
Date Published2016 Mar
ISSN1939-1293
KeywordsAbdominal Pain, Adolescent, Biomarkers, Child, Female, Headache, Health Status, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Multilevel Analysis, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Risk-Taking, Saliva
Abstract

<p>Considerable evidence documents linkages between parental knowledge of youth activities and youth risky behavior. We extended this research to determine whether parental knowledge was associated with youth physical health, including reports of physical symptoms (e.g., headaches, stomachaches) and a biomarker of hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis functioning (i.e., salivary cortisol levels). Participants were children of employees in the Information Technology division of a Fortune 500 company (N = 132, mean age youth = 13.39 years, 55% female) who participated in a daily diary study. Data were collected via telephone calls on 8 consecutive evenings. On 4 study days, cortisol samples were collected at 4 time points (waking, 30 min after waking, before dinner, bedtime). Multilevel models revealed that, at the between-person level, youth whose parents had higher average knowledge about their activities, exhibited lower bedtime cortisol levels. Furthermore, at the within-person level, on days when parents displayed more knowledge than usual (relative to their own 8-day average), youth had lower before-dinner cortisol than usual. Linkages between average parental knowledge and physical health symptoms were moderated by youth age: Younger but not older adolescents whose parents were more knowledgeable had fewer physical health symptoms, on average. A next step is to identify the processes that underlie these associations.</p>

DOI10.1037/fam0000167
Alternate JournalJ Fam Psychol
PubMed ID26751757
PubMed Central IDPMC4767617
Grant ListU01OH008788 / OH / NIOSH CDC HHS / United States
U01 HD051217 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01 HD051256 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
R03 AG046393 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
U01HD059773 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01HD051276 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
UL1 TR001425 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States
U01AG027669 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
U01 OH008788 / OH / NIOSH CDC HHS / United States
U01HD051217 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01 AG027669 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
U01 HD059773 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01 HD051276 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01 HD051218 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01HD051256 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States
U01HD051218 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States