Not letting the disease get the upper hand over life: strategies of teens with asthma

Adolescence is a period when teens normally revolt against being dependent. For teens with asthma this period may be even more difficult to deal with, as they also have to deal with their illness. Since few studies describe this phenomenon, the aim of this study was to provide a theoretical understanding of how teens with asthma manage their everyday life in relation to their disease. A grounded theory research design, according to Glaser, was used to uncover the phenomenon. The study was undertaken at a camp for teenagers with asthma during the summer of 2003. Twelve girls and 11 boys with moderate to severe asthma participated in the study. Participant observations and interviews were used, and the first author collected the data and participated in the activities. The findings reveal a theoretical model which shows that teens' core concern is not to let the disease get the upper hand over life. To manage this core concern the teens were found to use three strategies: keeping a distance to the disease, challenging the disease and taking the disease into consideration. Boys mainly kept a distance to the disease while girls mainly kept the disease into consideration. Challenging the disease seemed to be a strategy used by both girls and boys. The teens' strategies were not studied close to their everyday life, but a conclusion drawn from our study was that the provisional theory in many respects can be transferred to their everyday life, even though further research is needed to develop this provisional theory in other settings