Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on May 22, 2006
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2007 32(2):167-177; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsj112
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Pediatric Asthma Morbidity: The Importance of Symptom Perception and Family Response to Symptoms
1 Brown Medical School, and, 2 University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elizabeth L. McQuaid, Brown Medical School, Bradley Hasbro Childrens Research center, Corp. West 2, 1 Hoppin St., Providence, Rhode Island 02903. E-mail: emcquaid{at}lifespan.org.
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Objective To determine whether family response to asthma symptoms mediates the relationship between child symptom perception and morbidity. Methods A total of 122 children with asthma, aged between 7 and 17 years (47% females; 25% ethnic minorities), were recruited from three sites. Participants completed a family asthma management interview and 56 weeks of symptom perception assessment. Results Family response to symptoms mediated the relationship between child underestimation of symptoms and asthma morbidity and partially mediated the relationship between accurate symptom perception and morbidity. In contrast, although child overestimation of symptoms and family response to symptoms were independently related to asthma morbidity, a mediational model was not supported. Conclusions Our study found support for the role of family response to symptoms in mediating the relationship between child symptom perception and morbidity, particularly with regard to underestimation of symptoms, underscoring the need for behavioral tools to accurately recognize and optimally respond to exacerbations.
Key words: asthma; family; morbidity.
Received September 2, 2005; revision received January 8, 2006; accepted March 7, 2006