The Home Environment and Family Asthma Management Among Ethnically Diverse Urban Youth With Asthma

Although the pediatric psychology literature underscores the importance of illness-related aspects of the home environment for optimal family asthma management, little is known about the contribution of more global aspects of the home environment (e.g., family routines/schedule, quality of stimulation provided to child) to asthma management in ethnic minority and urban families. The goals of this study were to (a) explore ethnic/racial group differences in global and specific dimensions of home environment quality among Latino, non-Latino White (NLW), and African American urban children with asthma; and (b) examine associations between the quality and quantity of support and stimulation within the home environment, as measured by the HOME Inventory, and family asthma management. Urban, low-income children (N = 131) between the ages of 6 and 13 with asthma and a primary caregiver participated in a multimodal assessment, including an in-home observation and semistructured interviews to assess aspects of home environment quality and family asthma management practices. While controlling for poverty, no ethnic group differences were found in the global home environment; however, there were significant differences in specific dimensions (e.g., Family Participation in Developmentally Stimulating Experiences, and Aspects of the Physical Environment) of home environment quality. Across the whole sample, home environment quality predicted family asthma management. When examining this association for specific ethnic groups, this finding did not hold for the Latino sub-sample. The results highlight the need to consider ethnic group differences in non-illness-specific aspects of the home environment when addressing families' asthma management strategies.