Learning Objective #1: The learner will understand the prevalence of asthma in adolescents, as well as current challenges in asthma self-management in this age group.

Learning Objective #2: The learner will understand how attributional style and asthma severity relatesto ashtma self-management attitudes in adolescents.

---

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic illness in children, and despite dramatic advances in asthma management, morbidity and mortality rates in children continue to rise throughout the world. Morbidity factors include frequent school and social absences, poor sports performance, frequent emergency visits, and hospitalization. More crucial is the life-threatening component of even the mildest form of asthma, often preventable with better asthma management such as early symptom recognition and treatment. Adolescents are the most vulnerable group in terms of morbidity and mortality, especially inner city adolescents and minorities. Despite taking a more active role in their asthma care, adolescents often neglect preventative measures or ignore symptoms with detrimental results. Both asthma severity and attributional style play a role in attitudes toward asthma self-management in adolescents, with even mild asthma being a morbidity and mortality risk. This nursing doctoral study describes the relationship of attributional style and asthma severity to attitudes toward asthma self-management in adolescents. The framework of Attributional Style Theory by Martin Seligman (1990) was used in this study. This was a descriptive correlational study, testing two hypotheses. The study was conducted at an adolescent clinic at a Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C, with 76 adolescents, ages 11 to 17 years old. The relationship between asthma severity, attributional style and attitudes of asthma self-management was examined, using three instruments, the Classification of Asthma Severity Chart (CASC), the Child Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ), a 48-item questionnaire developed by Seligman and Peterson, and the Asthma Opinion Scale (AOS); an 18-item questionnaire developed by Richards to measure attitudes of asthma regarding self-management. It is hoped that this study will increase understanding of adolescents' attitudes toward their asthma and its management, and contribute to more realistic partnerships between health care providers and adolescents, the goal of successful asthma treatment.