Poster #172 - Cultural Differences in Parent-Child Discussions of Germ and Cold Weather Theories of the Common Cold

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Children and adults use their everyday experiences to make sense of the world by constructing intuitive theories (Carey, 2000; diSessa, 1993). There are a set of everyday beliefs, known as cold weather theory, which is the idea that cold weather may cause the common cold. This theory stands in contrast to germ theory (Sigelman, 2012).

Research suggests that culture plays a role in the prevalence of cold weather beliefs (Baer et al., 1999). Although these beliefs are endorsed throughout the world, individuals from Latin American backgrounds are especially likely to hold these beliefs. In this study, we examined discussions of cold weather and germ theory beliefs of the common cold with parents and their children in both Mexico and the United States. Specifically, we asked: What types of explanations do parents and their children discuss about the common cold, and do these vary by culture?

To answer this question, we presented 35 Mexican and 33 European-American parent-child dyads a set of pictures and stories before answering a beliefs questionnaire. Children were between the ages of 4 and 6 (M = 5.42, SD = 0.86). The dyads were first presented with two pictures of children that were either coughing or sneezing and asked how they thought the child got sick. Then dyads were presented with four stories depicting scenarios involving both cold weather and germ theory consistent behaviors. Parents and their children were asked to read the stories together. At the end of each story, one of the children got sick with the common cold, and parents were asked to discuss with their child why the child got sick. Participants then independently answered questions about their cold weather and germ theory beliefs.

The results show that for both the pictures and the stories, there were significant interactions between cultural group and type of explanation (b= 2.67, F(1, 55) = 80.89, p < .001; b= 4.23, F(1, 63) = 116.42, p < .001). Mexican dyads gave significantly more cold weather theory explanations, while the European-American dyads gave more germ theory explanations.

Next, we examined the germ and cold weather beliefs for parents and their children and found a significant cultural group by explanation type interaction, b= 2.20, F(1, 63) = 91.06, p < .001. As before, Mexican parents were more likely to endorse cold weather beliefs, while European-American parents were more likely to endorse germ theory beliefs. For the children, there was also a significant cultural group by explanation type interaction, b= 0.40, F(1, 63) = 4.64, p < .05. Specifically, Mexican children were more likely to hold cold weather beliefs while European-American children showed no difference between the two.

The results demonstrate that culture plays a strong role in cold weather and germ theory beliefs in Mexican and European-American dyads. Examining differences in these beliefs is crucial as they may have implications for the health behaviors that individuals engage in, particularly during the cooler months. Future research should explore how these beliefs impact common cold preventative behaviors.

Authors

• Iseli Hernandez, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Karl S. Rosengren, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Non-Presenting Author