Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic illness among children in the United States, and families who have a child with asthma face daily challenges to maintaining a normal family life. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed that studied four risk factors and four protective factors derived from the literature that impact these families, in order to better understand how nurses can meet the health care needs of the children with asthma and their families. Knafl's (1990, 1996) family management styles framework was applied as the theoretical framework of the study, and the concept of normalization was measured using the Family Management Measure (FaMM). The sample consisted of 43 parent dyads that had a child with asthma, who answered questions about their family, the child's asthma, and various dimensions of managing daily life with an ill child. Regression models were generated to determine the effect of the risk and protective factors on the outcome variable of normalization. The maternal and paternal scores on the FaMM were compared and were significantly correlated (r= 0.532, ρ < 0.001), while also exhibiting a significant difference in mean scores (t = 2.73, p = 0. 009). The risk factor of asthma severity had a statistically significant effect on family normalization. Based on study findings, nurses should assess for differences between parents in managing their child's asthma. Also, nurses should increase interventions for the child who has severe asthma because the child and family are at increased risk for difficulty in achieving normalization. Recommendations are made toperform studies that include children with other chronic illnesses and to include a wider variety of family configurations.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3457548; ProQuest document ID: 874151096. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Annette Hines, PhD, RN, CNE

Sigma Membership

Mu Psi

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Asthma, Children, Family Management Styles, Chronic Illnesses, Normal Family Life

Advisor

Heidi Krowchuk

Second Advisor

Robin Bartlett

Third Advisor

Elizabeth Van Horn

Fourth Advisor

C. Chris Payne

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Degree Year

2011

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2021-12-17

Full Text of Presentation

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