A PARTIAL TEST OF THE PSYCHOSOMATIC FAMILY MODEL - MARITAL INTERACTION PATTERNS IN ASTHMA AND NONASTHMA FAMILIES

The psychosomatic family model (PFM) implicates marital quality in chi ldhood asthma chronicity and exacerbation. The PM posits that the chil d's symptomatology varies in relation to parent interaction patterns c haracterized by conflict avoidance and brief intradyadic engagement. T his investigation of 40 families sought to determine if marital dyads show differential conditional likelihoods for these behavioral charact erizations as a function of having an asthmatic or nonasthmatic child. Using observational data collected in the home, a series of legit mod els examined the likelihood of extended dyadic engagement, disagreemen t, and child solicitation. As predicted, nonasthma couples were more l ikely to disagree and had longer intradyadic engagements, whereas asth ma family couples were more solicitous. Contrary to expectation, marit al quality was not a significant predictor of child solicitation in th e asthma family couples.