Parental expectations affect asthma symptoms

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Asthmatic children with parents who have high expectations for their ability to control the disease are less likely to have symptoms than other children with the condition, according to a study.

Investigators surveyed more than 700 parents of children aged two to 12 years with persistent asthma who received care in Boston, USA.

Parents were asked how well they believed their child's symptoms could be controlled, how asthma affected their child's activities and health and about their child's symptoms.

Children were more likely to have troublesome symptoms if their parents had low expectations about how well asthma could be controlled.

Pediatrics (2008) 122.