Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on February 11, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2009 34(8):862-868; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn134
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Brief Report: Factors Associated with Asthma Management Self-Efficacy Among 7th and 8th Grade Students
1San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health, 2University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Epidemiology, and 3University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Health Behavior & Health Education
All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Guadalupe X. Ayala, San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 221, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. E-mail: ayala{at}mail.sdsu.edu
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Objective Examine correlates of asthma self-management among 12,154 adolescents with physician-diagnosed asthma. Methods All 7th and 8th grade students in North Carolina completed a survey to assess asthma prevalence and self-management behaviors among those with asthma. Results Adolescents who were allowed to carry their inhaled medication at school, shown how to use a peak flow meter, and had access to more asthma care resources were more confident that they could prevent an asthma exacerbation. Adolescents who were allowed to carry their inhaled medication at school and who had a private doctor were more confident that they could control their symptoms. Adolescents taking anti-inflammatory medicine were less confident that they could prevent an exacerbation and control their symptoms. Conclusions Various indicators of autonomy and control were associated with greater self-efficacy for managing asthma. Adolescents who require anti-inflammatory medicines would benefit from additional intervention efforts to improve their asthma management self-efficacy.
Key words: adolescents; asthma; self-efficacy; self-management.
Received November 8, 2008; revision received November 23, 2008; accepted November 24, 2008