Purpose: To determine the relationships between daily peak flow monitoring (PFM), recommended for asthma self-management, and the psychosocial factors of self-concept and health locus of control in a sample of 42 children ages 7 through 11.

Design/Methods: These data were collected as part of a randomized, controlled clinical trial of an asthma self-management program. The measures of self-concept (Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale; PHSCS) and health locus of control (Children’s Health Locus of Control Scale; CHLOC) were obtained at baseline, while the adherence measure (i.e., the percent of days with at least one use of an electronic PFM) was determined during the fifth week. The PHSCS and CHLOC, as well as their subscales, are scored such that higher scores indicate a more positive assessment by the children of their self-concept and ability to control their health, respectively. Due to the skewness of the adherence variable, Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine relationships between this outcome and the psychosocial factors.

Results: Adherence was positively correlated with the total scores for both self-concept (r = .33, p = .03) and locus of control (r = .30, p = .05). Adherence to daily monitoring and the intellectual and anxiety subscales of the PHSCS also were positively associated (r = .38, p = .01 in both cases).

Conclusions/Implications: Children who have a positive self-concept, particularly in the areas of intellect and anxiety, are more adherent to recommended asthma treatment. Those who perceive their ability to control their health more positively adhere better to daily PFM. These results suggest that children’s adherence interventions may need to include components that enhance self-concept and locus of control.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004