Top

Published in:

Open Access 01-04-2020 | Original Paper

Cultural and Religious Variation in Attitudes to Young People Consenting to Health Interventions

Authors: Glòria Durà-Vilà, Matthew Hodes

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 2/2020

Abstract

There is a limited amount of empirical data available regarding the cultural and religious variation in perceptions about the age when young people should be regarded as competent to make decisions in health settings. A public survey of 400 adults from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds was conducted in the UK and Spain. Attitudes were assessed using case vignettes. It was found that high religious practice was associated with recommending a higher age of consent for medical interventions. White British adults were more likely than Spanish adults to agree that younger adolescents should be allowed to consent to medical interventions. The study suggests that there is social, cultural and religious variation in adults’ attitudes regarding the age when youngsters should consent to health interventions.

Authoritarian parents are obedience- and status-oriented, and have the expectation to have their orders followed (Baumrind, 1991) while authoritative parenting is more child-centred, fostering children’s independence while still keeping up boundaries (Santrock, 2007).

We are aware that comparing different cultures in terms of individualism-collectivism has been seriously questioned (e.g. McSweeney, 2002). Its use is a simplification for the study purposes and we are mindful that both individualistic and collectivistic orientations can co-exist in the same culture (Kim et al., 1994).

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. About 1,175,000 people live in the Valencia urban area (Demographia, 2011) and 2,300,000 in the Valencia metropolitan area (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2006).

When the ANOVA homogeneity of variance of assumption was broken (Levene’s test was significant), Welch’s F correction was used: the Welch test is robust when homogeneity of variance has been violated (see for example Tomarken & Serlin 1986; Field 2009).

‘Leave to remain’ is the standard legal term for describing migrants who have acquired legal rights to settlement in a country, typically when they come from a country with which the host nation does not have a general agreement for migration.

A survey undertaken in Spain, amongst those with Spanish nationality, showed that 76.0% declared themselves as ‘Catholic’, 13.0% as ‘non-believers’, 7.3% as ‘atheists’ and 2.1% as ‘believers of other religions’ (Centre for Sociological Investigations, 2009b). When those who defined themselves as Catholic or believers of other religion were inquired about the frequency with which they went to mass or other religious services without counting those occasions related to ceremonies of a social kind such as wedding, communions, funerals, etc. Half answered that ‘almost never’ (50.0%), ‘almost every Sunday and festivities’ (18.0%), ‘several times a year’ (17.7%), ‘at least one a month’ (11.3%) and ‘several times a week’ (2.4%) (Centre for Sociological Investigations, 2009a).

Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence,11, 56–95.CrossRef

Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2001). Principles of biomedical ethics (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Blotcky, A. D., Cohen, D. C., Conatser, C., & Klopovkh, P. (1985). Psychosocial characteristics of adolescents who refuse cancer treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychologv,53, 729–731.CrossRef

Centre for Sociological Investigations (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas). (2009a). Estudio CIS 2.811 (Barómetro de Julio 2009). Retrieved September 10, 2010 at http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/-Archivos/Marginales/2800_2819/2811/es2811.pdf.

Centre for Sociological Investigations (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas). (2009b). Estudio CIS 2.806 (Barómetro de Junio 2009). Retrieved September 10, 2010 at http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/-Archivos/Marginales/2800_2819/2806/ES2806.pdf.

Chesler, M. A., Paris, J., & Barbarin, O. A. (1986). ‘Telling’ the child with cancer. Parental choices to share information with ill children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology,11, 497–516.CrossRefPubMed

Cochran, J. K., & Beeghley, L. (1991). The influence of religion on attitudes toward non-marital sexuality: A preliminary assessment of reference group theory. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,30, 45–62.CrossRef

Danso, H., Hunsberger, B., & Pratt, M. (1997). The role of parental religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism in child-rearing goals and practices. Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion,36, 496–511.CrossRef

Demographia. (2011). Demographia: World Urban Areas. Retrieved March 3, 2011 at http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf.

Didcock, E. A. (2007). Issues of consent and competency in children and young people. Paediatrics and Child Health,17, 425–428.CrossRef

Dollahite, D. C., Marks, L. D., & Goodman, M. (2004). Families and religious beliefs, practices, and communities: Linkages in a diverse and dynamic cultural context. In M. J. Coleman & L. H. Ganong (Eds.), The handbook of contemporary families: Considering the past, contemplating the future (pp. 411–431). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRef

Dumont, L. (1980). Homo hierarchicus. Chicago: University of Chicago.

Durà-Vilà, G., & Hodes, M. (2017). Socio-cultural variation in attitudes to adolescents’ decision-making. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20, 954–972.CrossRef

Dwairy, M. A. (2006). Counseling and psychotherapy with Arabs and Muslims: A culturally sensitive approach. New York: Teachers College Press.

Ehrlich, J. S. (2006). From age of consent laws to the ‘Silver Ring Thing’: The regulation of adolescent female sexuality. Health Matrix,16, 151–181.PubMed

Ellison, C. G., & Sherkat, D. E. (1993). Obedience and autonomy: Religion and parental values reconsidered. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,32, 313–329.CrossRef

Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.

Fuligni, A. (1998). Authority, autonomy, and parent-adolescent conflict and cohesion: A study of adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, Filipino, and European backgrounds. Developmental Psychology,34, 782–792.CrossRefPubMed

Fundudis, T. (2003). Consent issues in medico-legal procedures: How competent are children to make their own decisions? Child and Adolescent Mental Health,8, 18–22.CrossRefPubMed

Giedd, J. N., Blumenthal, J., & Jeffries, N. (1999). Brain development during childhood and adolescence: A longitudinal MRI study. Nature Neuroscience,2, 861–863.CrossRefPubMed

Gupta, V., Johnstone, L., & Gleeson, K. (2007). Exploring the meaning of separation in second-generation young South Asian women in Britain. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice,80, 481–495.CrossRef

Harrison, C., Kenny, N. P., Sidarous, M., & Rowell, M. (1997). Bioethics for clinicians. Involving children in medical decisions. Canadian Medical Association Journal,156, 825–828.PubMedPubMedCentral

Helman, C. G. (2007). Gender and reproduction. In Culture, health and illness (5th edn, pp. 179–182). London: Hodder Arnold

Hinds, P. S., Oakes, L., Furman, W., Quargnenti, A., Olson, M. S., Foppiano, P., et al. (2001). End-of-life decision making by adolescents, parents, and healthcare providers in pediatric oncology: research to evidence-based guidelines. Cancer Nursing,24, 122–136.CrossRefPubMed

Iltis, A. S. (2010). Toward a coherent account of pedeiatric decision making. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy,35, 526–552.CrossRefPubMed

Johnston, C. (2009). Overriding competent medical treatment refusal by adolescents: when ‘no’ means ‘no’. Archives of Disease in Childhood,94, 487–491.CrossRefPubMed

Kim, U., Triandis, H. C., Choi, S. C., Kağitçibaşi, Ç., & Yoon, G. (Eds.). (1994). Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Kirmayer, L. (2007). Psychotherapy and the cultural concept of the person. Transcultural Psychiatry,44, 232–257.CrossRefPubMed

Lee, E., & Mock, M. R. (2005). Chinese families. In M. McGoldrick, J. Giordano, & N. Garcia-Preto (Eds.), Ethnicity and family therapy (3rd ed., pp. 302–317). New York: Guilford.

Lukes, S. (2006). Individualism. Colchester: ECPR.

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review,98, 224–253.CrossRef

Marsella, A. J., Devos, G., & Hsu, F. L. K. (Eds.). (1985). Culture and self: Asian and Western perspectives. New York: Tavistock.

McCabe, M. A. (1996). Involving children and adolescents in medical decision making: Developmental and clinical consideration. Journal of Paediatric Psychology,21, 505–516.CrossRef

McSweeney, B. (2002). Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith—a failure of analysis. Human Relations,55, 89–118.CrossRef

Mercurio, M. R. (2007). An adolescent’s refusal of medical treatment: Implications of the Abraham Cheerix case. Pediatrics,120, 1357–1358.CrossRefPubMed

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2006). Competitive cities in the global economy. OECD Territorial Reviews. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Partridge, B. C. (2010). Adolescent psychological development, parenting styles and pediatic decision making. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy,35, 518–525.CrossRefPubMed

Paul, M., Berriman, J. A., & Evans, J. (2008). Would I attend child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)? Fourteen to sixteen year olds decide. Child and Adolescent Mental Health,13, 19–25.CrossRefPubMed

Perfect, D. (2011). Equality and Human Rights Commission briefing paper. Religion or belief. Manchester: Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Santrock, J. W. (2007). A topical approach to life-span development (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scherer, D. G., & Reppucci, N. D. (1988). Adolescents’ capacities to provide voluntary informed consent. The effects of parental influence and medical dilemmas. Law and Human Behaviour,12, 123–140.CrossRef

Smetana, J. G. (2011). Adolescents, families, and social development. How teens construct their worlds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

SPSS. (2003). Base system user’s guide. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.

Steinberg, L., Darling, N., & Fletcher, A. C. (1995). Authoritative parenting and adolescent adjustment: An ecological journey. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder Jr., & K. Luscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 423–466). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRef

Steinberg, L., Dornbusch, S. M., & Brown, B. B. (1992). Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement: An ecological perspective. American Psychologist,47, 723–729.CrossRefPubMed

Tan, J., & Jones, D. P. H. (2001). Children’s consent. Current Opinion in Psychiatry,14, 303–307.CrossRef

Tomarken, A., & Serlin, R. C. (1986). A comparison of ANOVA alternatives under variance heterogeneity and with specific noncentrality structures. Psychological Bulletin,99, 90–99.CrossRef

United Nations (UN). (1989/1990). Conventions on the rights of the child. Retrieved September 30, 2011 at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm.

Yeo, G., & Hikuyeda, N. (2000). Cultural issues in end-of-life decision making among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. In K. Braun, J. H. Pietsch, & P. L. Blanchette (Eds.), Cultural issues in end-of-life decision making (pp. 101–125). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRef

Title: Cultural and Religious Variation in Attitudes to Young People Consenting to Health Interventions
Authors: Glòria Durà-Vilà
Matthew Hodes
Publication date: 01-04-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0686-z

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Cultural and Religious Variation in Attitudes to Young People Consenting to Health Interventions

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2020

An Investigation of Islamic Well-Being and Mental Health

Authors Disclosing Their Theistic Orientation in Journal Articles on Religion and Health? Infrequent, Informal, and Mostly Inconsistent with Conflict of Interest

Spiritual Lessons From the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Effect of Religious Beliefs on the Attitude of Aesthetic Surgery Operation in Islam

Religiosity/Spirituality and Physiological Markers of Health

Faith Maturity and Mental Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study of Indian American Followers of a Guru Tradition