Study of the emotional adjustment of the caregiver–patient dyad to bronchial asthma in adolescence

• Published in: International journal of nursing practice Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. e13171 - n/a
• Main Authors: Valero‐Moreno, Selene, Montoya‐Castilla, Inmaculada, Pérez‐Marín, Marián
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Adherence; Adjustment; adolescence; Adolescents; Anxiety; Asthma; Bronchial; bronchial asthma; Caregivers; Child development; Childhood; Chronic asthma; Chronic illnesses; depression; Drugs; Medical diagnosis; Medical personnel; Medical treatment; Mental depression; nurses; Patients; Psychoeducational aspects; Symptoms; Teenagers; Variables; adolescence; anxiety; caregivers; bronchial asthma; depression; nurses
• ISSN: 1322-7114; 1440-172X
• DOI: 10.1111/ijn.13171

Aim
This study aimed to investigate the impact of bronchial asthma‐related factors on the emotional well‐being of adolescents with bronchial asthma and their primary caregivers.
Background
Bronchial asthma is a common chronic disease in childhood and adolescence that can have a psychological impact on both patients and their primary caregivers.
Methods
The study used a cross‐sectional design and included 150 patient–caregiver dyads diagnosed with bronchial asthma, aged between 12 and 16 years and collected between 2018 and 2020. It assessed the emotional adjustment of both patients and caregivers and recorded variables related to the disease. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to perform statistical analyses.
Results
Caregivers had higher anxiety and depression scores than patients. Good adherence to treatment was necessary for the emotional adjustment of the dyad. Controlled asthma, good adherence to treatment and a reduction in medical treatment were the primary predictors of emotional adjustment.
Conclusions
The study highlights the importance of assessing anxiety and depression levels in both patients and caregivers because the presence of these symptoms can lead to the misuse of medication, inadequate inhalation techniques, the omission of medication and reduced confidence in controlling asthma symptoms.
Summary statement
What is already known about this topic?
Certain variables related to asthma, such as its degree of control, severity, duration of diagnosis and adherence, have been linked to adjustment to the disease by the adolescent–caregiver dyad.
What this paper adds?
Caregivers had higher anxiety and depression scores than patients.
Good adherence to treatment was necessary for the emotional adjustment of the dyad.
Controlled asthma, good adherence to treatment and a reduction in medical treatment were the primary predictors of emotional adjustment.
The implications of this paper:
The study evaluated the variables in combination to identify risk and healthier profiles in the dyad's emotional adjustment and identified variables related to the disease most associated with emotional adjustment to the disease in the dyad.
Identifying the risk and health profiles in emotional adjustment in both the adolescent and his or her caregiver may be used to mitigate future consequences related to poor adjustment to asthma.
Knowledge of these variables allows health professionals to design psychoeducational programmes to ensure better adaptation to the disease.