Parental education and adolescent self-reported physical health

Applying latent growth curve analysis to a sample of 350 adolescents, this study demonstrates that parents' education is linked to changes in adolesce nt self-reported physical health through the level of and changes in parent al rejection. In addition, parents' education had a significant direct effe ct on subsequent changes in adolescents' self-reported health status. The r esults provide evidence for the influence of parents' education on changes in the self-reported physical health of adolescents, both directly and indi rectly through parental rejection. However, parents' education is not assoc iated with the initial level of adolescent self-reported physical health. C onfidence in the findings is strengthened by employing a prospective, longi tudinal research design; by analyzing intraindividual changes in parental r ejection and adolescent health; and by using multi-informant reports of par ental rejection.