Association of Youth and Caregiver Anxiety and Asthma Care Among Urban Young Adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of adolescent asthma related anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, and caregiver asthma-related anxiety with asthma care by urban adolescents. METHODS: Participants were 386 ethnic minority adolescents (mean age 12.8 years) with persistent asthma and their caregivers. Adolescents reported what they do to prevent asthma symptoms and to manage acute symptoms, and if they or their caregiver is responsible for their asthma care. Adolescents completed the Youth Asthma-Related Anxiety Scale, and the social and separation anxiety subscales of the Screen for Child Anxiety and Emotional Disorders (SCARED); caregivers completed the Parent Asthma-Related Anxiety Scale. Linearity of the associations was assessed by generalized additive models. When there was no evidence for nonlinearity, linear mixed effects models were used to evaluate the effects of the predictors. RESULTS: Adolescent asthma-related anxiety had a strong curvilinear relationship with symptom prevention (P<.001). Adolescents took more prevention steps as their anxiety increased, with a plateau at moderate anxiety. There was a linear relationship of adolescent asthma-related anxiety to symptom management beta = 0.03, P = .021) and to asthma responsibility (beta = 0.11, P = .015), and of caregiver asthma-related anxiety to adolescent symptom prevention beta = 0.04, P = .001). Adolescent social and separation anxiety had weak to no relationship with asthma care. Results remained consistent when controlling for each of the other anxieties. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma-related anxiety plays an important, independent role in asthma care. When low, adolescents may benefit from increased support from caregivers and awareness of the consequences of uncontrolled asthma. When elevated, health providers should ensure the adolescents are not assuming responsibility for asthma care prematurely.