While many children suffer from asthma, the respiratory illness is often manageable. However, proper management of it and the child's ability to cope with it in later life lies on the parents. However, asthmatic children who grow up in poor families may suffer worse long-term effects especially in social and behavioral skills. This is the latest findings of a study conducted by the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Assistant professor of the university's School of Health Professions Jen Hao-Chen authored a study undertaken with funds derived from a grant provided by the American Educational Research Association, which also received the money from National Science Foundation. It was later published in Social Science and Medicine.
In her longitudinal study and birth cohort that focuses on more than 5,000 children across the country, she looked into the behavioral development of these children while growing up, taking into account their level of social interaction and attention, among others. Based on her study, she found out that although it's common among children with asthma to experience a degree of difficulty in certain areas of behavioral development, it tends to be almost insignificant for those who grow up in a higher-income family.
Chen further added that children who grow up in poverty or low-income families usually perform worse than those who have easy access to available resources and whose parents express less stress or financial strain.
There are many drugs that can help in controlling or managing childhood asthma, but there are not enough programs to address the illness's effects on other aspects such as behavior and social skills. Through this study, Chen wants more programs that will assist parents in providing the most ideal care for their sick children. Some of the programs should also concentrate on depression and stress, which many parents in low-income bracket experience.
