title: Childhood healthcare experience, healthcare attitudes, and optimism as predictors of adolescents' healthcare behavior.
abstract: Late adolescence and early adulthood is a time when people establish many of their life-style behaviors. Thus, in order to promote optimal health, it is important to identify factors predictive of young adults' healthcare behavior. This study evaluated the relationship between measures of childhood healthcare experience, healthcare attitudes, and optimism with young adults' healthcare behavior in a sample of college students (n = 100). Results suggested that prior healthcare experience, attitudes about healthcare, and optimism are associated with current healthcare behavior. In addition, the relation between childhood healthcare experience and current healthcare behavior was moderated by optimism, such that those who reported both more negative childhood healthcare experiences and low levels of optimism reported the least adaptive healthcare behaviors and those who reported the most positive childhood healthcare experience and the highest levels of optimism reported the most adaptive healthcare behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DeMore
authors.forename: Lindsey L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult