Purpose

This longitudinal investigation assessed how the frequency of parent-adolescent conversations about COVID-19, moderated by adolescents' stress, influenced adolescents' empathic concern and adherence to health protective behaviors (HPBs) throughout the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Participants were 181 adolescents (M_age = 15.23 years; 51% girls; 47% Latinx) and their parents. Frequency of parent-adolescent conversations about COVID-19 (i.e., pandemic-related symptoms, health behaviors, and social effects), empathic concern toward vulnerable others, and adolescent HPBs were assessed via surveys in the first months of the pandemic, and empathic concern and HPBs were assessed again nine months later.

Results

Results revealed that more frequent parent-adolescent conversations early in the pandemic predicted increased adherence to HPBs throughout the pandemic when adolescents reported low stress (direct effect), but conversation frequency predicted decreased adherence to HPBs via reduced empathic concern when adolescents reported high stress (indirect effect).

Conclusions

Parents and other socialization agents, such as teachers, should be sensitive to adolescents' stress before engaging them in frequent conversations about the pandemic to mitigate the potential negative impact these conversations may have on adolescents' empathic concern and adherence to HPBs. Decreasing adolescents' stress may be an initial step in promoting effective message transference. Collective action (including wearing masks and receiving the vaccine) remains critical to overcoming COVID-19. The current study contributes to our understanding of the processes underlying adolescents' adherence to recommended HPBs, which is critical as pandemic fatigue and stress continue to rise.

中文翻译：

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关于 COVID-19 的家长与青少年的对话会影响青少年的同理心关注和对健康保护行为的遵守

 目的

这项纵向调查评估了在青少年压力的调节下，父母与青少年关于 COVID-19 的对话频率如何影响青少年在 COVID-19 大流行的第一年中的同理心关注和对健康保护行为 (HPB) 的遵守。

 方法

参与者为 181 名青少年（男性_年龄= 15.23 岁；51% 为女孩；47% 为拉丁裔）及其父母。通过大流行最初几个月的调查和共情关注评估了父母与青少年关于 COVID-19 的对话频率（即与大流行相关的症状、健康行为和社会影响）、对弱势他人的同理心关注和青少年 HPB。九个月后再次评估 HPB。

 结果

结果显示，在大流行早期，当青少年报告压力较低时，父母与青少年之间更频繁的对话预示着整个大流行期间对 HPB 的依从性会增加（直接影响），但当青少年报告压力大时（间接影响），谈话频率会通过减少移情关注来预测对 HPB 的依从性下降。影响）。

 结论

父母和其他社会化代理人（例如教师）在与青少年进行有关流行病的频繁对话之前，应该对青少年的压力保持敏感，以减轻这些对话可能对青少年的移情关注和遵守 HPB 产生的潜在负面影响。减轻青少年的压力可能是促进有效信息传递的第一步。集体行动（包括戴口罩和接种疫苗）对于战胜 COVID-19 仍然至关重要。目前的研究有助于我们了解青少年遵守推荐的 HPB 的过程，这在大流行性疲劳和压力持续上升的情况下至关重要。