Health Literacy and Self-Efficacy in Parents of Toddlers-A Cross-Sectional Study.
Ragnhild Makhotso Egenberg Søreide, Marie Hamilton Larsen, Astrid Klopstad Wahl and 2 others
PMID 39962761WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of toddlers in this Norwegian survey reported high health literacy and self-efficacy.
Higher self-efficacy correlated with better health literacy across all nine domains, with the strongest link seen in understanding health information well enough to know what to do.
Key findings
01All nine health literacy domains were significantly correlated with self-efficacy, with higher self-efficacy linked to higher health literacy.
02The strongest correlation between self-efficacy and health literacy was in the domain of understanding health information well enough to know what to do.
03Parents generally scored in the upper range of the health literacy scales, indicating high self-reported health literacy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling from a single centre, and the participants were a relatively homogeneous group with high socio-economic status, employment, and education. This limits how far the results can be applied to parents with lower income, less education, or those from different cultural backgrounds. The sample size was small (76 participants), and no formal sample size calculation was performed. This reduced the statistical power, especially after applying the Bonferroni correction for multiple tests, which meant that several initial associations became non-significant. All measures were self-reported. Parents' perception of their own health literacy and self-efficacy may not match their actual skills or behaviours, particularly because scores were near the maximum possible, suggesting a ceiling effect. The study was cross-sectional, so it can show an association between health literacy and self-efficacy but cannot prove that one causes the other. Parents who declined to participate were not asked their reasons, so it is unknown if they differed from those who took part.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these results apply to all parents of toddlers. The participants were mostly well-educated, employed, and from a high-income background in one Norwegian centre. Parents facing poverty, lower literacy, or different cultural contexts may have very different health literacy and self-efficacy levels.