Ringle Vanesa A Mora, Dahlgren Astrid, Rosenbaum Sarah, Jensen-Doss Amanda
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA.
OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Jan 27;25(1):336. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21291-9.
There is an urgent need to study and increase the public's ability to think critically about health and treatments. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a clear, in-depth understanding of critical thinking about health in the United States, especially its rates among parents and college students, two particularly important groups. This study assessed and characterized critical thinking about health with U. S. parents and college students. We also explored whether critical thinking about health varied as a function of sociodemographic determinants.
Parents (N = 142) and college students (N = 145) in the U. S. completed an online test of critical thinking about health, and answered questions about their background.
Both parents and college students in the U. S. struggled to think critically about health and treatments based on various science literacy and evidence-based practice principles. Parents with higher educational attainment had lower critical thinking about health, and college students who reported a liberal political affiliation had higher critical thinking scores.
This investigation demonstrates a need to increase critical thinking about health among U. S. parents and college students so they can be empowered to make informed health choices.
迫切需要研究并提高公众对健康及治疗方法进行批判性思考的能力。不幸的是，目前我们对美国公众关于健康的批判性思维缺乏清晰、深入的了解，尤其是在父母和大学生这两个特别重要的群体中的比例。本研究对美国父母和大学生关于健康的批判性思维进行了评估和特征描述。我们还探讨了关于健康的批判性思维是否因社会人口统计学决定因素而有所不同。
美国的父母（N = 142）和大学生（N = 145）完成了一项关于健康的批判性思维的在线测试，并回答了有关其背景的问题。
美国的父母和大学生都难以基于各种科学素养和循证实践原则对健康及治疗方法进行批判性思考。受教育程度较高的父母对健康的批判性思维较低，而报告具有自由政治倾向的大学生批判性思维得分较高。
这项调查表明有必要提高美国父母和大学生对健康的批判性思维，以便他们能够有能力做出明智的健康选择。
