Brief report: illness uncertainty and dispositional self-focus in adolescents and young adults with childhood-onset asthma.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate differences in self-focused attention between college students with childhood-onset asthma and a group of healthy controls and to determine whether self-focused attention mediates the relationship between illness uncertainty and psychological distress among individuals with asthma.


METHODS
Forty-two adolescent and young adult participants with childhood-onset asthma and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy participants completed measures of self-focused attention, perceived illness uncertainty, psychological distress, and health status.


RESULTS
Adolescents and young adults with childhood-onset asthma evidenced an increased tendency to engage in private self-focus compared to age- and gender-matched peers without a chronic illness history. Self-focused attention also mediated the relationship between perceived illness uncertainty and psychological distress among those with asthma.


CONCLUSIONS
The need for self-monitoring in asthma management may result in an increased propensity to self-focus, which may result in heightened levels of psychological distress.
Van Pelt
Jill C
JC
University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, 55455, USA. vanp0039@umn.edu
Mullins
Larry L
LL
Carpentier
Melissa Y
MY
Wolfe-Christensen
Cortney
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D017668:Age of Onset; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires