Abstract
AIMS: To characterize the discourse trends and level of argumentation of girls and boys by analysing the differences in the conceptions and systems of conceptions of children and adolescents aged between 6 and 18. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a multi-centre qualitative study in the human and social sciences, based on data collected in two different phases using two different tools: e.Photoexpression©, which deals with health in general, and Photonarration, which deals with cancer. The aim of this open, exploratory method, which uses photographs, is to gather data on the experiences and knowledge specific to each child and adolescent. The informative value of data from qualitative collection tools, combined with a mixed analysis methodology, enabled us to characterize the differences in perceptions of health determinants and cancer between girls and boys aged between 6 and 18. RESULTS: 4,174 productions were collected from 1,068 children aged 6 to 18, identifying 30 determinants of health and cancer. For all of these results, there were significant gender differences from a very early age: boys focused on leisure activities and physical activity, while girls took a more global view, focusing on the environment, food, emotional aspects of social relationships, hygiene, care, prevention, etc. As they got older, the focus shifted to health determinants. As we get older, we see a change in discourse trends and in the level of argumentation, with girls becoming richer and boys poorer. DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK: The trends in girls' and boys' discourse on what, in their view, determines health demonstrate the interest and relevance of adapting the prevention methods used as closely as possible to the conceptions of children and adolescents. The differences observed between boys and girls are a crucial lever that takes into account the specific characteristics of a population. They offer the possibility of taking more effective action, both in the context of interventions aimed at teenagers and in support of decision-making in the context of prevention policies.