The Role of Positive Affect in Asthma Control and Symptom Severity in Adolescents

Authors

Brooke N. Jenkins, Chapman UniversityFollow
Logan T. Martin, University of California, Irvine
Jill S. Halterman, University of Rochester
Judith T. Moskowitz, Northwestern University
Laura M. Glynn, Chapman UniversityFollow
Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)Follow
Sunil Kamath, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)
Zeev N. Kain, University of California, IrvineFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-17-2024

Abstract

Introduction

We test the effects of positive affect and its arousal subscale components of calm, wellbeing, and vigor on asthma control and symptom severity in adolescents with moderate to severe asthma. Additionally, we test whether positive affect (and its arousal components) moderate how stress impacts asthma control and symptom severity.

Methods

Adolescents with asthma (N = 66, ages 12–17) completed brief surveys 4 times a day for 7 days reporting on their positive affect, stress, and asthma symptom severity and conducted a morning peak expiratory flow assessment each day. Asthma control and psychological asthma triggers were assessed at the end of the 7 days.

Results

Positive affect moderated the association between stress and asthma control (b = −0.33, p = 0.009) as well as the association between psychological triggers and asthma control (b = −0.74, p = 0.007). When assessing the positive affect arousal components, calm and wellbeing seemed to be driving these effects. Additionally, calm moderated the association between stress and asthma symptom severity (b = −0.33, p = 0.036) as well as the association between psychological triggers and asthma symptom severity (b = −0.75, p = 0.021).

Conclusions

When considering patient stress (e.g., general stress, psychological asthma triggers), positive affect and its arousal components of calm and wellbeing may be helpful for patients with higher levels of stress and/or for patients experiencing greater numbers of psychological triggers.

Comments

This article was originally published in Journal of Adolescence in 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12373

Recommended Citation

Jenkins, B. N., Martin, L. T., Halterman, J. S., Moskowitz, J. T., Glynn, L. M., Tirakitsoontorn, P., Kamath, S., & Kain, Z. N. (2024). The role of positive affect in asthma control and symptom severity in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12373

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.