DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The study, which was ancillary to the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP), clarified the extent to which and the mechanisms whereby specific family processes might be protective or deleterious in the adherence behaviors and treatment outcome in three groups of children with mild to moderate asthma: 80 children participating in the Denver site of the CAMP, 80 children receiving asthma-related care in a large, nationally recognized health maintenance organization, and 60 children recruited by using school records to identify children with asthma receiving their care in a variety of different health care systems across the Denver metropolitan area. The study examined the extent to which family process variables were cross-sectionally associated with and longitudinally influenced adherence to asthma treatment and asthma treatment outcome as well as the consistency of this relationship across the three sites. The study also determined whether adherence with treatment mediated the relationship between specific family processes and asthma treatment outcome, as well as the consistency of this relationship across the three sites.