Latino children’s ability to interpret in health settings: A parent–child dyadic perspective on child health literacy

ABSTRACT

To determine children’s ability to interpret in medical settings, 100 dyads of low-income, Spanish-speaking parents and their bilingual children who interpret for the parents were surveyed. Seventy-four children demonstrated adequate health literacy in English. Three theoretical perspectives (social cognitive theory, role-reversal theory, and the team-effort model) guided hypotheses about how parent and child characteristics influenced child health literacy. Structural equation model results supported the team-effort model. Children were more health literate when they were older, had better English abilities, had higher self-efficacy, and had parents with lower self-efficacy and better English language abilities. Children and parents may work as a team in medical interpreting settings, with children simultaneously compensating for and learning from parents.

KEYWORDS:

• Child interpreting
• health literacy
• Latino
• parent–child relationship
• medical interpreting
• language brokering

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Purdue University Extension Program and, specifically, Mitzi Egnatz and Maria Turpin for their assistance with recruitment and data collection.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Purdue University Center for Families.