The allocation of family responsibility for asthma management tasks in African-American adolescents.

The allocation of responsibilities for asthma management within African-American families was examined in 60 adolescents and their primary caretakers. Separate structured interviews were conducted with adolescents and primary caretakers, and perceptions of family management, adherence to asthma treatment regimen, and functional morbidity were assessed. Support for the primary hypothesis that higher levels of nonadherence and functional morbidity would be observed in families where caretakers overestimated the level of adolescent involvement in asthma self-care was found. Implications for family-based asthma management in ethnic minority adolescents are discussed.