Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students
Abstract Background 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 a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21291-9 |
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| author | Vanesa A. Mora Ringle Astrid Dahlgren Sarah Rosenbaum Amanda Jensen-Doss |
| author_facet | Vanesa A. Mora Ringle Astrid Dahlgren Sarah Rosenbaum Amanda Jensen-Doss |
| author_sort | Vanesa A. Mora Ringle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3fec83e4d90742e3bbf66ab95f199ac5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-3fec83e4d90742e3bbf66ab95f199ac52025-02-02T12:45:51ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582025-01-0125111110.1186/s12889-025-21291-9Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college studentsVanesa A. Mora Ringle0Astrid Dahlgren1Sarah Rosenbaum2Amanda Jensen-Doss3Lehigh UniversityOsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityNorwegian Institute of Public HealthUniversity of MiamiAbstract Background 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21291-9Evidence-based healthcareCritical health literacyCritical thinkingHealth educationHealth claimsInformed health choices |
| spellingShingle | Vanesa A. Mora Ringle Astrid Dahlgren Sarah Rosenbaum Amanda Jensen-Doss Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students BMC Public Health Evidence-based healthcare Critical health literacy Critical thinking Health education Health claims Informed health choices |
| title | Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| title_full | Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| title_fullStr | Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| title_short | Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| title_sort | critical thinking about health and treatments in the united states a cross sectional assessment of parents and undergraduate college students |
| topic | Evidence-based healthcare Critical health literacy Critical thinking Health education Health claims Informed health choices |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21291-9 |
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