PERCEIVED FAMILY CRITICISM AND PRIMARY-CARE UTILIZATION - PSYCHOSOCIAL AND BIOMEDICAL PATHWAYS

We explored the relationship of perceived family criticism to subseque nt healthcare utilization in patients attending a family medicine cent er We examined: a) the relationship of perceived criticism to subseque nt utilization for biomedical and psychosocial/somatic problems; b) th e mediating effects of self-rated mental health and physical function; and c) the mediating effects of social support. The analyses were adj usted for age, sex, race, education, health insurance, and marital sta tus. Higher perceived criticism predicted more psychosocial/somatic an d biomedical visits. The relationship of perceived criticism with psyc hosocial/somatic visits was entirely mediated through self-rated menta l health. The relationship of perceived criticism with biomedical visi ts was partly mediated through self-rated physical function and, in pa rt, independent. Social support played no role in explaining these rel ationships. Further research is needed to determine whether lowering p erceived family criticism lowers primary care utilization.