Zhao Shanyang
Department of Sociology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2009 Nov;69(10):1501-5. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.08.039. Epub 2009 Sep 16.
Research has shown that increasing numbers of teenagers are going online to find health information, but it is unclear whether there are disparities in the prevalence of online health seeking among young Internet users associated with social and economic conditions. Existing literature on Internet uses by adults indicates that low income, less educated, and minority individuals are less likely to be online health seekers. Based on the analysis of data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project for the US, this study finds that teens of low education parents are either as likely as or even more likely than teens of high education parents to seek online health information. Multiple regression analysis shows that the higher engagement in health seeking by teens of low education parents is related to a lower prevalence of parental Internet use, suggesting that some of these teens may be seeking online health information on behalf of their low education parents. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the issues of the digital divide and digital empowerment.
研究表明，越来越多的青少年上网查找健康信息，但尚不清楚在年轻的互联网用户中，寻求在线健康信息的比例是否因社会和经济状况存在差异。关于成年人使用互联网的现有文献表明，低收入、受教育程度较低的人和少数族裔个体不太可能成为在线健康信息的寻求者。基于对美国皮尤互联网与美国生活项目数据的分析，本研究发现，父母受教育程度低的青少年寻求在线健康信息的可能性与父母受教育程度高的青少年相当，甚至更高。多元回归分析表明，父母受教育程度低的青少年对健康信息寻求的更高参与度与父母互联网使用率较低有关，这表明这些青少年中的一些人可能在代表受教育程度低的父母寻求在线健康信息。将结合数字鸿沟和数字赋权问题讨论这些发现的意义。
