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Psychosomatic Medicine 21:208-217 (1959)
© 1959 American Psychosomatic Society

Personality Factors and Certain Attitudes Toward Child Rearing Among Parents of Asthmatic Children

GEORGE T. FITZELLE Ph.D.1

1 Department of Home Economics, University of California

Matched samples of parents of asthmatic children and parents of children suffering from diverse ailments excluding asthma were studied by means of the MMPI, U.S.C. Parent Attitude Survey, and a personal interview. It was hypothesized that parents of the asthmatic children would possess distinctive personality characteristics and attitudes toward child rearing to a degree which would be statistically significant. The following results were obtained:

1. Differences between Pd scores of mothers of asthmatic and control mothers provided the only statistically significant difference in the expected direction, i.e., scores reflecting emotional instability or attitudes toward child rearing found to be characteristic of the parents of problem children.

2. No significant differences in the hypothesized direction were found in: Total scores on the U.S.C. Parent Attitude Survey; MMPI and Attitude Survey scores of parents suffering from asthma compared with the total disability group; MMPI and Attitude Survey scores of parents of children with most severe symptoms compared with parents of children with the mildest symptoms.

3. Both the asthmatic and control group mean MMPI scores rise consistently above the mean of the general population.

4. Fifty-five per cent of the mothers reported that asthmatic attacks sometimes or frequently follow a nervous upset. The influence of certain emotional factors upon several children suffering from asthma was discussed.

5. Consideration of the importance of both physical and psychological factors in the etiology of asthma was emphasized.




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