A multivariate analysis of adolescents' orientations toward physician use.

Interviewed 2,188 early adolescents (aged 12–13 yrs), 1,814 late adolescents (aged 16–28 yrs), their parents, school representatives, and health professionals. Hypotheses regarding direct parent–adolescent links were examined in a multivariate structural equations model relating demographics, adolescents' interpersonal competencies, and parental variables to adolescents' orientations toward physician utilization. Adolescents' orientations toward physician use were associated with those of their parents, and this link was generally stronger and more specific during late adolescence. The model also suggests that these orientations conform to social and cultural variables related to differences in social stratification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)