Family styles and quality of life in adolescents with bronchial asthma: The important role of self‐esteem and perceived threat of the disease

OBJECTIVES: Analyze the relationship between family styles and quality of life (QoL) in adolescents with bronchial asthma and study the influence of self‐esteem as a protective factor and threat perception as a risk factor. METHODS: Family styles, QoL, perceived threat of the disease, and self‐esteem were assessed in a total of 150 adolescents diagnosed with bronchial asthma with ages ranging from 12 to 16 years (M = 13.28; SD = 1.29), 60.7% being male. Descriptive statistics and mean comparisons were conducted according to the level of self‐esteem. Relationships between variables were also studied using Pearson's correlations, and finally, the mediating role of self‐esteem and the perceived threat of the disease was assessed using PROCESS. RESULTS: Adolescents shown healthy family characteristics (high scores on affect and parental mood and low scores on psychological control) and high scores on QoL. Thirty‐five percent of adolescents showed low self‐esteem and a tendency to underestimate the disease. There are existing relationships between family styles and QoL; thus, healthy family characteristics (affection, parental mood, autonomy promotion) were positively associated with QoL, while psychological control was negatively associated with QoL. Disease threat and self‐esteem mediated the relationship between family styles and adolescent QoL. Disease threat was negatively, and self‐esteem was positively associated with QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Self‐esteem and family support are protective factors for the well‐being of adolescents with bronchial asthma; however, the high perceived threat of the disease can have negative consequences for the adolescent's health and negatively impact their QoL.