Pediatric asthma management in the family context: the family asthma management system scale

OBJECTIVE: To examine psychometric properties of a revised version of the Family Asthma Management System Scale (FAMSS), a clinical interview to assess asthma management. METHODS: The FAMSS was administered to 115 children with asthma and their primary caregivers, along with a measure of asthma morbidity. A subset of families (n = 53) participated also in objective-adherence monitoring and completed measures of asthma knowledge and self-efficacy. RESULTS: The FAMSS demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = .84). The FAMSS summary score was unrelated to age, gender, race, or minority status, but was related to socioeconomic status (SES) and to functional morbidity at baseline and prospectively. Convergent validity of the FAMSS was documented. The FAMSS explained additional variance in concurrent-asthma morbidity beyond self-reports or objective adherence monitoring. CONCLUSION: The FAMSS is a valuable tool to assess family-based asthma management that addresses gaps in available assessment methodologies and holds promise for research and clinical applications.