Parents' perception of children's health and illness

Adults have different knowledge about their children's health and illness, and behave according to this naive knowledge. Parents (N = 216) of kindergarten children were questioned about their beliefs and possible behavior regarding their children's health and illness. Questions covered perception of different health signs, factors that influence a call to the physician, usual domestic illness countermeasures, perception of competence of different persons regarding healing, promotion of health, etc. It was clearly shown that parents maintain a prototype of children's illness (with high temperature as its most important sign, and its lowering as a main countermeasure), that experience with illness gives the expertise for healing, etc. A model of parents' behavior regarding illness of their children is proposed.