Parents' Child-Related Schemas: Associations With Children' Asthma and Mental Health

The parent-child relationship, a key dyad of the family. can influence disease-related and psychological processes in children with asthma. Although the critical role of parenting behaviors in asthma outcomes is well established, less is known about the attitudes and beliefs underlying parents' interactions with their children and how those attitudes may relate to asthma outcomes. Thus, this study aimed to identify profiles of parents' schemas pertaining to their children with asthma and examine whether child mental and physical health outcomes differed by profile membership. Caregivers of children (n = 177; 5-12 years old) with asthma completed the Five Minute Speech Sample (Magaila et al., 1986), which was later coded for positive and negative attitudes and attributions about their children. Using a pattern-based approach, cluster analyses revealed three profiles of schemas: high negativity-low positivity, low negativity-low positivity, and low negativity-high positivity. Profiles differed in levels of externalizing and internalizing child symptoms, and lung function. Results support the growing body of research placing emphasis on the role of parenting in pediatric asthma outcomes. Caregiver schemas may constitute a point of intervention in families of children with asthma.