The Impact of Parental Beliefs and Social Media-Driven Misconceptions on Pediatric Healthcare Decisions in Jordan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35516/jmj.v60i1.4238الكلمات المفتاحية:
Pediatric healthcare، Parental beliefs، Social media myths، Jordan، Health misinformation، Public healthالملخص
Introduction: Pediatric healthcare decision-making is influenced by intersecting and often conflicting factors. The coexistence of traditional parental beliefs and the modern digital landscape has altered this process and produced a novel paradigm which greatly impacts regions where cultural heritage guides medical practices and behaviors. This paper examines how parental attitudes built on traditional beliefs and social media affect healthcare decisions for pediatric patients aged twelve and below.
Methods: The paper employs a structured 18-item questionnaire distributed to 200 Jordanian parents to gauge beliefs, digital health literacy, and online misinformation influence healthcare-seeking behavior.
Results: The results indicated a considerable influence of traditional beliefs, as 48% of parents favored traditional remedies, and 35% consulted family elders before seeking professional advice. On the other hand, 62% stated they frequented social media for information on child healthcare, while 55% had followed online advice without medical consultation. Moreover, only 45% of the parents expressed confidence in their ability to distinguish credible information from misleading content.
Discussion: The analysis through hypothesis testing indicated that lower education levels and higher social media usage rates significantly delayed medical consultations and were related to a reliance on unverified health advice. In contrast, high media literacy levels resulted in increased caution, leading to more professional-aligned decisions.
Conclusions: The paper suggests enhancing the digital presence of pediatricians to increase the credibility of online information. The paper recommends the integration of evidence-based health messaging in popular platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
المراجع
Al-Ajlouni, L., Abu-Ghazaleh, S., & Rajab, L. (2023). The Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Dentistry: A Study of the Knowledge and Attitudes of Parents in Jordan. Jordan Medical Journal, 57(4), 41–349.
doi:https://doi.org/10.35516/jmj.v57i4.2069
Tarawneh, A., Al-Dhmour, H., Almajali, R., Sawaqed, F., Al-Dmour, A., & Mahgoub, S. (2024). Zinc and Growth with Picky Eating in a Jordan Pediatric Clinic: An Observational Study. Jordan Medical Journal, 58(3), 317–326. doi:https://doi.org/10.35516/jmj.v58i3.1249
Ghunaim, L., Agha, A. S. A., Al-Samydai, A., & Aburjai, T. (2024). The Future of Pediatric Care: AI and ML as Catalysts for Change in Genetic Syndrome Management. Jordan Medical Journal, 58(4), 510-528.
doi:https://doi.org/10.35516/jmj.v58i4.2787
Masa'Deh, R. (2015). Perceived stress in parents of children with chronic disease: a comparative study. European Scientific Journal, 11(36).
Masa’Deh, R., Bawadi, H., Saifan, A., & AbuRuz, M. (2015). Perceived stress of Jordanian parents: A comparative study between mothers and fathers. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 5(11), 89-95.
Masa'deh, R., & Jarrah, S. (2017). Post traumatic stress disorder in parents of children with cancer in Jordan. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 31(1), 8-12.
Arabiat, D., Whitehead, L., Al Jabery, M., Hamdan-Mansour, A., Shaheen, A., & Abu Sabbah, E. (2021). Beliefs about illness and treatment decision modelling during ill-health in Arabic families. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 1755-1768.
Kubanji, R. (2023). The Role of Religious and Traditional Beliefs on Botswana Medical Practitioners’ Health Provision Behaviours: Some Highlights from a Recent Study. Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora, 6(1), 26-39.
Al-Yateem, N., Lajam, A. M. A., Othman, M. M. G., Ahmed, M. A. A., Ibrahim, S., Halimi, A., . . . Rahman, S. A. (2023). The impact of cultural healthcare practices on Children’s health in the United Arab Emirates: a qualitative study of traditional remedies and implications. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1266742.
Yeung, A. W. K., Tosevska, A., Klager, E., Eibensteiner, F., Tsagkaris, C., Parvanov, E. D., . . . Kletecka-Pulker, M. (2022). Medical and health-related misinformation on social media: bibliometric study of the scientific literature. Journal of medical Internet research, 24(1), e28152.
Khullar, D. (2022). Social media and medical misinformation: confronting new variants of an old problem. Jama, 328(14), 1393-1394.
Frey, E., Bonfiglioli, C., & Frawley, J. (2023). Parents’ use of social Media for Health Information before and after a consultation with health care professionals: Australian cross-sectional study. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 6(1), e48012.
Macauley, R., Elster, N., Fanaroff, J. M., Basak, R., Geis, G. M., Laventhal, N. T., . . . Oken, R. L. (2021). Ethical considerations in pediatricians’ use of social media. Pediatrics, 147(3).
Vilimelis‐Piulats, I., Pérez‐Ricart, A., Peligero, M. B., Calvo, A., Negre, J. M. S., & Juárez‐Gimenez, J. C. (2025). Social media as a source of drug safety information in the paediatric population. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1-11.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.16392
Panda, S., & Panda, A. (2023). Parental beliefs and practices in childhood asthma–A hospital based cross-sectional study. Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences, 12(1), 128-133.
[16]Çelik, T., & Güzel, Y. (2024). Parents’ Knowledge and Management of Fever:“Parents Versus Fever!”. Turkish Archives of Pediatrics, 59(2), 179.
Al-Shawi, M. M., Darwish, M. A., Wahab, M. M. A., & Al-Shamlan, N. A. (2018). Misconceptions of parents about antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infections: A survey in primary schools of the Eastern province, KSA. Journal of Family and Community Medicine, 25(1), 5-12.
Bryan, M. A., Evans, Y., Morishita, C., Midamba, N., & Moreno, M. (2020). Parental perceptions of the internet and social media as a source of pediatric health information. Academic pediatrics, 20(1), 31-38.
Ward, L. M., Sykora, C. A., Prakash, Y., Cohen, M. B., & Levi, J. R. (2022). Parental views on the role of social media in pediatric otolaryngology. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 13(6), 640-646.
