Audio
In-law Family and Health
In addition to parent-child communication, there is also a growing trend to look at in-law communication. My colleague, Dr. Ashleigh M. Day and I took some of my dissertation and looked at how children-in-law were talking about health issues with their parents-in-law. Seeking social support from in-laws can be challenging, but if supportive communication is received, the relationship can flourish. Using the Health Belief Model, we looked at how children-in-law and parents-in-law seek social support when dealing with a health issue (either the child-in-law’s or the parent-in-law’s). I interviewed 30 children-in-laws who were in positive relationships with their parents-in-laws and they suggested that social support within conversations surrounding health topics are important to the relationship growth, but also influence individuals’ health beliefs and, ultimately, decisions. Our participates noted that it is not always easy to talk about health issues either their own issues or their parent-in-law’s issue, but it is necessary for the relationship to positively grow. We used the health belief model to look at what children-in-law and parents-in-law are talking about and it usually stemmed from an illness such as cancer or infertility, but it also was talking about issues they wanted to look out for in their children, such as hereditary things like diabetes. If this study interest you, then go to the Texas Speech Communication Journal and search for the 2021 study titled, “I needed her and she needed me”: Understanding Children-in-law and Parents-in-law relationships through the health belief model.
Flashcards
Coming Soon.
