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Children's perceptions of asthma: establishing normality
1Child Health Nursing, University of Southampton, School of Nursing and Midwifery.
British Journal of Nursing (Mark Allen Publishing)
|November 26, 1997
Summary
Children with asthma often strive to appear "normal," which can help them cope but may lead to accepting less-than-ideal asthma control. This impacts their self-management strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Respiratory Medicine
- Qualitative Health Research
Background:
- Asthma is a common chronic childhood illness.
- Understanding children's perspectives is crucial for effective management.
- Previous research has not fully explored children's lived experiences with asthma.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore children's perceptions of having asthma.
- To identify children's beliefs and attitudes towards their illness.
- To understand how these perceptions influence asthma management.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative research design.
- Grounded theory methodology.
- Semi-structured interviews with 10 children (9-12 years old) with asthma.
- Constant comparative analysis of interview transcripts.
Main Results:
- Four major themes emerged from the data.
- A core variable of 'establishing normality' was identified.
- Children's desire to be 'normal' influenced their illness appraisal and asthma management behaviors.
Conclusions:
- The drive to establish normality can have benefits for children with asthma.
- However, this focus on normality can also lead to the acceptance of suboptimal asthma control.
- Interventions should consider children's psychosocial needs alongside clinical management.