Predictors of Health Care Use for Children of Marriage and Family Therapy Clients

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine predictors of children's health care use in families that were presenting for couple and family therapy. Participants completed a battery of assessments addressing various aspects of biopsychosocial functioning. Best subsets multiple regressions were used to determine which variables were best suited as predictors of children's health care use. Results suggest that parents’ marital cohesion and life satisfaction were significant predictors of their children's medical use. Specifically, an increase in parents’ marital cohesion was associated with increased use of health care services by children. Also, lower life satisfaction reported by the parent was related to more use of health care services by the child. These two variables accounted for 46% of the variance in the children's health care use. The identified predictors are valuable potential targets for therapeutic intervention in a family and couple therapy setting.

KEYWORDS:

• health care
• children
• marriage and family therapy

Support for this project came from the Family Studies Center and School of Family Life at Brigham Young University.

Notes

*Indicates that the variable was associated with the highest correlation squared values and were included in the final model.