# Parental health literacy in parents of adolescents aged 16–19: a qualitative study

## TL;DR

This study explores how parents of 16–19-year-olds manage health information and support their teens' growing health independence.

## Contribution

The study provides new qualitative insights into parental health literacy and its role in adolescent health decision-making during late adolescence.

## Key findings

- Parents navigate a shift from oversight to supporting adolescent self-management of health.
- Credible health information sources are crucial for parents to guide informed decisions.
- Loss of access to health information after age 16 may hinder parental support.

## Abstract

Parental health literacy is crucial for adolescent health outcomes — particularly during late adolescence, when teenagers take on greater health responsibility. There is a need for further research into parental health literacy and how parents access, understand, appraise, and apply health information, as this is vital for assisting their adolescents in making well-informed health decisions. This study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how parents of late-stage adolescents perceive their parental health literacy and to explore their experiences in transferring responsibility for health-related decisions to their adolescents.

A study with a qualitative design was carried out using individual semi-structured interviews with 15 Norwegian parents of adolescents aged 16–19 years. Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data.

Three major themes were generated: (1) Transfer of health-related responsibility: from parental oversight to adolescent self-management, (2) parental health literacy and source credibility: navigating trustworthy information, and (3) enhancing parental health literacy to better support adolescents’ informed health decision‑making. Parents experience a shift as they balance their guidance with the adolescents’ growing autonomy. This involves selecting credible health information from digital platforms, healthcare professionals, and personal networks, underscoring the importance of parental health literacy in fostering adolescents’ informed decision-making and self-management of health.

Parents of late‑stage adolescents are committed to supporting their children in managing health-related issues and to help develop adolescents’ capacity for autonomous health management, emphasizing the importance of parental health literacy. By facilitating the development of critical appraisal skills, and guiding informed decision-making, parents may contribute to strengthening adolescents’ competence and confidence in handling health-related matters more safely and independently. However, parents reported that losing access to their child’s health information after age 16 may hinder their ability to help. Empowering parents through strengthening their HL may improve individual and family health outcomes.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-26471-9.