1. Effects of Coping-Skills Training in Low-Income Urban African-American Adolescents with Asthma.
- Author
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Velsor-Friedrich, Barbara, Militello, Lisa K., Richards, Maryse H., Harrison, Patrick R., Gross, Israel M., Romero, Edna, and Bryant, Fred B.
- Subjects
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AFRICAN American teenagers , *URBAN teenagers , *ASTHMA-related mortality , *ASTHMA diagnosis , *LIFE skills , *RANDOMIZED controlled trials , *TEENAGERS , *DISEASES , *TRAINING - Abstract
Background. Minority teens with asthma are at particular risk for this life-threatening disease due to increased morbidity and mortality rates in addition to the normal challenges of adolescence. Objective. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial ( n = 137) was to determine the effects of a coping-skills training program (intervention) compared with standard asthma education (attention control) in African-American teens with asthma. Methods. Adolescents were recruited from five African-American dominant high schools serving low-income areas of Chicago. Data were collected at baseline, 2 months (immediately following the intervention), 6 months, and 12 months. Results. Both groups improved over time, with significant increases in asthma-related quality of life, asthma knowledge, and asthma self-efficacy, accompanied by decreases in symptom days and asthma-related school absences. Conclusions. Findings suggest that coping-skills training as implemented in this study provided no additional benefit beyond that experienced in the control group. However, group-based interventions delivered in the school setting may be beneficial for low-income, minority teens with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
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