Stress Management Intervention in Inner City Adolescents With Asthma

Pilot Study: Stress Management Intervention as a Tool for Managing Persistent Asthma in Inner City Adolescent Patients.

The study will utilize a stress management program delivered over 10 sessions that is hypothesized to result in decreased stress levels and improved coping strategies in an inner city adolescent asthma population. Participants will include adolescents ages 10-15 years with physician diagnosed asthma. The outcome measures will be obtained via psychosocial questionnaires and spirometry.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages 8-15 years of age
• Physician diagnosed asthma based on NHBLI guidelines
• English speaking
• Child assent/parental consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusal of child assent/parental consent
• Non-English speaking
• History of psychiatric illness, autoimmune disease, HIV/AIDs, smoking history.