Qualitative Analysis of Illness and Treatment Perceptions in Juvenile Asthma: a Parent-adolescent Dyad Approach

Abstract

Background: Although the CSM-related literature is advanced, there is a lack of research concerning illness and treatment perceptions of children and adolescents, and still less concerning dyadic approaches considering perceptions of both chronically ill patients and their parents. Methods: We conducted focus groups with N=30 adolescents with asthma and telephone interviews with N=15 mothers. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed in a dyad-focused qualitative content analysis procedure using the computer program Atlas.ti. Findings: Adolescents’ and parents’ statements were categorized using 74 codes assigned to 10 dimensions of illness and treatment perceptions. The results demonstrated large inter-individual variability in the perceptions among adolescents and parents and pointed to both issues of high congruence in parent-adolescent dyads and issues entailing distinctive discrepancies in perceptions. Discussion: For their high inter-individual variability, paying more attention to individual and dyadic illness and treatment perceptions in adolescent care could be worthwhile, not least because of their particular importance for patients’ adherence and illness management.