LEARNING TO COPE WITH ASTHMA - A BEHAVIORAL SELF-MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN

An educational training program for children with asthma, aged between 8 and 13 years, was evaluated in an 18-month randomized, controlled e xperiment, including three follow-up evaluations. The objective of the program is to improve coping with asthma in daily life. The program, ten 1-hour sessions, is a combination of self-management training and cognitive behaviour therapy in a group, using games and learning mater ials, specifically designed for this age group. From 195 asthmatic chi ldren, 112 with inadequate self-management abilities were selected; th ese children were randomly divided into an experimental group and two control groups. The results indicated highly significant differences i n favor of the experimental group on the psychological and medical var iables. There were no drop-outs during the program. The conclusion is that this multi-faceted program is an effective method of teaching chi ldren how to cope with their asthma and helping them to achieve a less anxious and more realistic attitude towards their illness.