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Published on: November 21, 2013
Self-reported adherence behavior in adolescent hypertensive patients: the role of illness representations and
Urska Zugelj1, Maja Zupancic, Luka Komidar
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. urska.zugelj@ff.uni-lj.si
Objective:
This exploratory study examined the role that illness representations and personality play in the various adherence behaviors of adolescents diagnosed with essential hypertension.
Methods:
The participants were 97 hypertensive adolescents. They completed self-report questionnaires pertaining to (1) demographic and medical data, (2) adherence, (3) illness representations, and (4) personality. Medical charts were also assessed.
Results:
The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that: (1) conscientiousness, agreeableness, and perception of treatment effectiveness account for a significant amount of variance in general adherence; (2) perception of treatment effectiveness is predictive of overall specific adherence; and (3) for adherence to most of the individual specific regimen recommendations, illness representations are more predictive compared to personality dimensions.
Conclusions:
The personality domains of conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and illness representation dimensions (treatment control, concern, and emotional burden) were shown to predict adherence behaviors in adolescent hypertensive patients differentially. Study implications and limitations are discussed.
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