Honor Thy Parents: An Ethnic Multigroup Analysis of Filial Responsibility, Health Perceptions, and Caregiving Decisions.
The present study explores patterns of parity and disparity in the effect of filial responsibility on health-related evaluations and caregiving decisions. Participants who identified as White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander read a vignette about an older man needing medical care. They were asked to imagine that they were the man's son and answer questions regarding their likelihood of hiring a health care advocate (HCA) for services related to the father's care. A multigroup (ethnicity) path analysis was performed, and an intercept invariant multigroup model fits the data best. Direct and indirect effect estimation showed that filial responsibility mediated the relationship between both the perceived severity of the father's medical condition and the perceived need for medical assistance and the likelihood of hiring an HCA only for White and Hispanic participants, albeit differently. The findings demonstrate that culture and ethnicity affect health evaluations and caregiving decision making.
Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Maya S
MS
Santoro
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Charles
C
Van Liew
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Breanna
B
Holloway
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Symone
S
McKinnon
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Timothy
T
Little
Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA, USA Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA tcronan@mail.sdsu.edu.
Terry A
TA
Cronan
D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers; D003657:Decision Making; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D028681:Moral Obligations; D010290:Parents
aging; caregiving; decision making; ethnic differences; filial responsibility; health care advocacy