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Health Education Research, Vol. 7, No. 3, 391-401, 1992
© 1992 Oxford University Press

research-article

The relationship between cognitive maturity and information about health problems among school age children

Lisa D. Lieberman, Noreen M. Clark1, Karen V. Krone2, Mario A. Orlandi2 and Ernst L. Wynder2

Department of Health Education, New York University 35 West 4th Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10003
1School of Public Health, University of Michigan Michigan, MI 48109
2American Health Foundation New York, NY 10017, USA

This study of urban, multi-ethnic children was undertaken to explore the relationships between age, cognitive developmental capability (termed ‘cognitive maturity’) and accuracy of information about health problems. A total of 299 children in the first, second and third grades from six public and one private school hi New York City were individually interviewed using an open-ended set of questions. Findings indicated that having accurate health information is not the same as comprehending the abstract internal nature of the ‘facts’. Results supported Piaget's levels of cognitive development applied to the area of health. Findings also showed that age is a better predictor of children's accuracy about health information than their cognitive maturity. The findings underscore the need for those providing health education to place emphasis on the cognitive abilities of children and not to mistake recitation of factual information for understanding of conceptual elements of a health problem.


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