Learning Objective #1: Understand the relationships of familial caregivers' characteristics, severity of asthma, access to care, belief in treatment efficacy to asthma management behaviors

Learning Objective #2: Understand the relationships of, asthma management behaviors, severity of asthma, access to care, belief in treatment efficacy to quality of life for children

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Asthma is a common chronic disease among children and is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. It affects quality of life of children, but little is known regarding variables influencing quality of life that can be changed to improve life. The specific aims of this study are to examine: (a) the direct relationships of family characteristics, access to care, belief in treatment efficacy and asthma severity to familial caregivers' management behaviors; (b) the indirect relationships of asthma severity, access to care, and belief in treatment efficay to quality of life through familial caregivers' management behaviors; and (c) the direct relationships of familial caregivers' management behaviors, asthma severity access to care and belief in treatment efficay to quality of life. The theoretical framework was derived from a synthesis of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory (1986) and the Family Framework for Diabetes Self-management Behavior from Fisher and colleagues (1998). A correlational study was conducted to examine relationships among variables. A convenience sample of 130 familial caregivers of children with asthma age 6 to 12 years were recruited from three asthma camps, three Asthma Walks and the web-based survey. Path analysis was used to examine relationships among the variables influencing quality of life for children. The results revealed that asthma severity has a significant direct relationship to familial caregivers'management behaviors (r = .26, p < .01). Asthma severity (r = -.35, p < .001) and belief in treatment efficacy (r = .21, p < .05) have significant direct relationships to quality of life. Data showed no significant relationships of caregivers' management behaviors and access to care to quality of life. The results suggest that interventions to improve quality of life should focus on controlling asthma symptoms and emphasizing the importance of treatment.