ABSTRACT
The study of pediatric asthma provides an opportunity for behavioral scientist researchers and clinicians to examine the relationship between childhood illnesses and developmental psychopathologies. A variety of evidence supports the conclusion that children with chronic health conditions, such as asthma, have a significantly increased risk for developmental psychopathologies (15-17) and that physicians tend to underrecognize developmental psychopathologies in children and adolescents (18). In one study utilizing a parentreport measure (15), significant relationships between chronic physical conditions, developmental psychopathologies, and placement in special education classes were identified. These relationships were found to be independent of sociodemographic variables such as socioeconomic level, demographic variables, and racial characteristics. Using data from the 1988 U.S. National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, Fowler and colleagues (16) examined the risk for school failure, school suspension/expulsion, and prevalence of learning disabilities in children in grades 1 through 12. After controlling for demographic factors, children with asthma were not at greater risk for grade failure or suspension/expulsion, though they are at 1. 7 times the risk for learning disabilities compared with well children. In an examination of children from families with incomes below $20,000, children with asthma had two times the incidence rate of school failure as "well" children. Overall, it was concluded that children with asthma had a modestly increased risk for academic problems as compared with "well" children. In another examination of these same data (17), the prevalence of developmental delay, learning disabilities, and emotional/behavioral problems sizably increased with the number of chronic conditions reported. As many as 21% of children under 18 years of age have been reported to have two chronic health conditions ( 19). These children, as a general rule, utilize a greate number of healthcare services.
