ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1631102
Youth Health Behavior Adoption and Its Reverse Intergenerational Impact
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Law and China Institute for Modernization of the Rule of Law, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
- 2School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
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Introduction: In the context of rapid population aging and digital transformation in China, youths are increasingly influencing older family members' health perceptions and behaviors through "cultural feedback" mechanisms. This study examines the factors shaping youth health behaviors and their reverse intergenerational effects on elders. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 2,187 participants aged 18-35 examined factors influencing youth health behaviors and their reverse intergenerational influence on older family members, using regression analyses with mediation models. Results: Findings indicate emotional regulation capacity emerged as the strongest predictor of health behaviors, followed by surrounding individuals' health status, gender, and self-reported health condition. Socioeconomic status, occupation, and age demonstrated limited direct effects. Young adults' health behaviors significantly predicted reverse intergenerational influence, with health behavior tendency mediating relationships between individual characteristics and intergenerational influence. Discussion: Young adults serve as pivotal agents in health-related "cultural feedback". Their health behavior tendencies subsequently influence older generations' health perceptions and practices. Interventions targeting emotional regulation skills among young adults may effectively amplify intergenerational health promotion while addressing aging-related public health challenges.
Keywords: Cultural feedback, health behaviors, misinformation, reverse intergenerational influence, Social Media
Received: 19 May 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xia, Zhang and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ke Zhang, School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
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