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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on August 9, 2008
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2009 34(4):379-388; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn084
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©The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Role of Asthma Management Beliefs and Behaviors in Childhood Asthma Immune and Clinical Outcomes

Hope A. Walker, BSc1, Louise Chim, BA2 and Edith Chen, PhD1

1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, and 2Department of Psychology, Stanford University

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Hope A. Walker, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. E-mail: hopewalker{at}psych.ubc.ca


  Abstract

Objective This study examined associations of asthma management-related beliefs and behaviors with immune markers and clinical outcomes in a sample of 66 children with asthma (ages 9–18 years). Methods Children and parents were interviewed about asthma management beliefs and behaviors. Immune measures included stimulated production of cytokines implicated in asthmatic airway inflammation, eosinophil counts, and IgE levels. Clinical outcomes included pulmonary function, symptoms, β-agonist use, and physician contacts. Results Children's reports of greater conceptual understanding of asthma, parents' reports of quicker responses to asthma symptoms, and children's and parents' reports of more balanced integration of asthma into daily life were all associated with reduced inflammatory profiles. Inflammatory profiles were found to be a statistically significant pathway linking asthma beliefs and behaviors to clinical outcomes. Conclusions These findings suggest that interventions aimed at teaching families better asthma management approaches may have the potential to alter biological profiles in children with asthma.

Key words: asthma; children; health behavior.

Received September 18, 2007; revision received July 11, 2008; accepted July 14, 2008


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