Repercusiones psicológicas de la enfermedad respiratoria crónica pediátrica en los pacientes y en sus cuidadores

The challenge of adjusting to adolescence, a time of challenge and great change at all levels, can be compounded by the presence of a chronic health problem. Bronchial asthma (BA) is the most frequent diagnosis in paediatric consultations and hospital emergency departments, and this can have a negative psychological impact on both the adolescent and the family. It is considered necessary to study in greater depth the emotional adjustment to the illness of the caregiver-adolescent dyad. At the same time, the impact of chronic illness on emotional adjustment in adolescence needs to be studied. The main objective of the present study was to analyse the main psychological, family and adjustment to the diagnosis in the adolescent population with AB and their main family caregivers. To analyse the psychological repercussions of AB, the sample of paediatric patients was compared with a sample of normative adolescents. The sample is composed of 450 adolescents (150 adolescents with AB and 300 healthy adolescents) aged 12-16 years (M=13.61 and SD=1.84), and the 140 primary family caregivers corresponding to each of the paediatric patients, aged 27-63 (M=45.43 and SD=5.03). The design of this study is cross-sectional, and the evaluation was conducted between February 2016 and February 2020. The variables analysed through self-reports were self-esteem, psychological well-being, emotional and behavioural psychopathology, and parenting styles in the case of all adolescents. In addition, quality of life and perceived threat of illness were also assessed in the sample of adolescents with asthma. On the other hand, family functioning, caregiving stress, emotional distress and adult attachment were assessed in the case of the caregiver. The results show the importance of the important role of the family in the adaptation process. A noteworthy finding was the good adaptation to adolescence observed in subjects with AB compared to their peers without the disease, which could be due to the family support received or to their own capacity for growth in the face of an adverse situation. This is why it is observed that adolescents with AB do not show worse emotional adjustment compared to their healthy peers. At the same time, caregivers show greater difficulties when faced with the diagnosis of paediatric patients. On the other hand, there is some emotional contagion between the patient-caregiver dyad. In conclusion, the results obtained support the need to carry out an assessment such as the one proposed in this study, as it has provided valuable information both to gain a better understanding of the state of adaptation of these populations (adolescents and caregivers) to the diagnosis of AB, as well as the fact that it has provided relevant information that helps to understand the need to carry out interventions to improve the emotional well-being and quality of life of the family system, therefore, it is of great importance to work from a multidisciplinary point of view. To achieve an adequate adaptation to the diagnosis, it would be interesting to develop and promote prevention and/or intervention programmes on three different focuses: on the professionals who work with them on a daily basis, on the family carers, and on the subjects with AB themselves. It would be interesting to carry out support programmes for these adolescents, where the psychological characteristics that promote adequate adaptation are positively reinforced, as well as developing coping strategies that reinforce their ability to cope with the socially adverse situations to which they may be exposed.