Shared Activities With Parents During Adolescence Predicts Health Risk Across Multiple Biological Systems 22 Years Later

Abstract

Objective 

Although affectively focused dimensions of social relationships are associated with differences in health risk, less research has considered nonaffective features of relationships, such as engaging in shared activities. This study sought to test whether adolescents who engaged in more shared activities with their parents had lower health risk in early midlife across multiple biological markers.

Methods 

Using data from a nationally representative study (N = 4801), prospective associations between shared activities with parents during adolescence and health risk classifications for measures of inflammation, renal function, glucose homeostasis, and cholesterol 22 years later were examined, along with the potentially confounding roles of childhood socioeconomic status and parent-child relationship satisfaction. Exploratory analyses considered possible indirect effects of cigarette use, alcohol use, and body mass index in adulthood.

Results 

Engaging in more shared activities with parents was associated with a reduced likelihood of being classified in a high-risk health category for markers of inflammation (B = −0.02, standard error [SE] = 0.01, p = .040), renal function (B = −0.08, SE = 002, p = .001), glucose (B = −0.06, SE = 0.23, p = .011), and high-density lipoprotein (B = −0.03, SE = 0.01, p = .021), and overall allostatic load (B = −0.02, SE = 0.02, p = .001), beyond demographic and health covariates. Controlling for parental income and relationship satisfaction largely did not affect observed associations. Exploratory tests of indirect effects imply that health behaviors in adulthood may partially account for observed associations.

Conclusions 

Engaging in more shared activities predicted more optimal health classifications 22 years later, suggesting that the amount of contact between parents and teenagers may have long-lasting beneficial health effects. Furthermore, consideration of nonaffective dimensions of family relationships may provide additional insight into associations between social relationships and health.