[Bronchial asthma and systematic family therapy: treatment concept, initial contact and therapy follow-up]

Psychosocial factors play an important role in pathogenesis and maintenance of bronchial asthma. However, besides conventional treatment family therapy seems to be less applied. A treatment plan for the integration of systemic family therapy into pediatric management of asthma has been developed and validated. Its special feature is an invariant family treatment offer after the initial session, with the decision of acceptance or rejection upon the family. The main focuses of family therapy are coping and family interaction, thus indirectly influencing the course of illness. Up to now 66 family sessions have been conducted with 11 families; five families agreed to the first session only. In a mean observation time of two years after the end of family therapy we found a drastic reduction in hospital readmissions of the asthmatic patients, even in the patients of families who took part in the initial session only. This may indicate a better control of asthma symptoms in patients and families. Family therapy is suggested as a valuable and additional tool in treatment of asthmatic children, irrespectively of their allergic status.