Teenage boys' meetings with general practitioners

The aim of the proejct is to study, both quantitatively and qualitatively, teenage boys' meetings with general practitioners, from the perspective of both parties. The goal is to gain insight into why both teenage boys and general practitioners find it difficult to discuss sensitive subjects in the context of consultation.

Details

  • Start date: 2014-01-28
  • Funder: Centrum för klinisk forskning, Region Sörmland/Uppsala universitet. Stiftelsen Kempe-Carlgrenska fonden. Hälsoval, Region Sörmland.

Description

Many teenage boys find it difficult to talk about their well-being to the general practitioner. This is especially true when it comes to sensitive subjects, such as mental health or unhealthy habits, which are common but treatable causes of disease and death among teenage boys.

Sensitive conversations can be made easier if the teenage boy is allowed privacy, that is, time alone with the doctor and an explanation of the confidentiality rules that apply. But, teenage boys report not being taken seriously, instead being dismissed, by uninterested general practitioners. The doctors, on the other hand, tell of difficulties in trying to get the boys to open up about their problems. In other words, there's a shared experience of communicative breakdown.

The purpose of the project is to explore teenage boys' meetings with general practitioners quantitatively, as well as qualitatively, from both the teenage boys' and the general practitioners' perspectives. Cross-sectional survey studies are used to investigate confidentiality in relation to mental health and unhealthy behaviours. Qualitative interviews with teenage boys and general practitioners, as well as actual observations of their meetings, are used to reach a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play.

Understanding adolescent males’ poor mental health and health-compromising behaviours: A factor analysis model on Swedish school-based data

Confidentiality matters! Adolescent males’ views of primary care in relation to psychosocial health: a structural equation modelling approach

 

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