Interviews with caregivers during acute asthma hospitalisations.

Childhood asthma is complex and poor management of childhood asthma is the leading health reason for pediatric emergency department visits, hospitalizations and missed school days for school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to explore caregiver perceptions of home management of childhood asthma in school-aged children who have been hospitalized for asthma. Using qualitative descriptive design with in-depth interviews, we aimed to explore family caregiver perceptions of managing asthma in school-aged children between 5 and 12 years of age.

Commentary: Writing and Evaluating Qualitative Research Reports.

Objective: To provide an overview of qualitative methods, particularly for reviewers and authors who may be less familiar with qualitative research.

Methods: A question and answer format is used to address considerations for writing and evaluating qualitative research.

Results And Conclusions: When producing qualitative research, individuals are encouraged to address the qualitative research considerations raised and to explicitly identify the systematic strategies used to ensure rigor in study design and methods, analysis, and presentation of findings.

Daily hassles, mother-child relationship, and behavior problems in Muslim Arab American adolescents in immigrant families.

Objective: This longitudinal study examines reciprocal and dynamic relations among daily hassles, the mother-child relationship, and adolescent behavior problems and whether the relations differed by sociodemographic variables.

Method: Three waves of data about adolescent daily hassles, quality of the mother-child relationship, and adolescent behavior problems were collected from 454 Arab Muslim adolescents and their immigrant mothers over a 3-year period. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine reciprocal relations among the study variables.

Longitudinal study of daily hassles in adolescents in Arab Muslim immigrant families.

This study investigated which daily hassles (i.e., parent, school, peer, neighborhood, and resource) were perceived by Arab Muslim immigrant adolescents as most stressful over a three-year time period and according to child's gender and mother's immigration status (i.

Interactive performance and focus groups with adolescents: the power of play.

Conducting focus groups with adolescents can be challenging given their developmental needs, particularly with sensitive topics. These challenges include intense need for peer approval, declining social trust, short attention span, and reliance on concrete operations thinking. In this article, we describe an adaptation of interactive performance as an alternative to traditional focus group method.

Adapting large batteries of research measures for immigrants.

A four-step, streamlined process to adapt a large battery of measures for a study of mother-child adjustment in Arab Muslim immigrants and the lessons learned are described. The streamlined process includes adapting content, translation, pilot testing, and extensive psychometric evaluation but omits in-depth qualitative inquiry to identify the full content domain of the constructs of interest and cognitive interviews to assess how respondents interpret items. Lessons learned suggest that the streamlined process is not sufficient for certain measures, particularly when there is little published information about how the measure performs with different groups, the measure requires substantial item revision to achieve content equivalence, and the measure is both challenging to translate and has little to no redundancy.

Hypertension prevention beliefs of Hispanics.

Purpose: This qualitative study used focus group methodology to explore attitudes and beliefs of Hispanics regarding hypertension prevention behaviors.

Method: The sample was composed of 17 participants from varied Hispanic backgrounds. The theory of planned behavior guided interview questions.

Discrimination against Muslim American adolescents.

Although there is ample evidence of discrimination toward Muslim Americans in general, there is limited information specific to Muslim American adolescents. The few existing studies specific to this age group suggest that Muslim American adolescents encounter much discrimination from teachers, school administrators, and classmates. This descriptive qualitative study complements the few existing studies on Muslim American adolescents by obtaining in-depth description of the discrimination they encounter.

Premigration persecution, postmigration stressors and resources, and postmigration mental health: a study of severely traumatized U.S. Arab immigrant women.

Background: Competing theories exist regarding the importance of premigration trauma as compared with postmigration stressors and resources with respect to the risk to immigrant mental health.

Objective: To examine how type of premigration trauma, postmigration stressors, and postmigration resources differentially predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) symptomatology in Arab immigrant women who have been exposed to premigration trauma.

Design: Descriptive, using multinomial logistic regression to explain membership in one of four groups: (a) PTSD only (n = 14), (b) MDD (n = 162), (c) comorbid PTSD-MDD (n = 148), and (d) subclinical symptoms (n = 209).

A longitudinal family-level model of Arab Muslim adolescent behavior problems.

Arab-American Muslim adolescents in immigrant families face a number of challenges that put them at risk for behavior problems. This study of Arab-American Muslim Adolescents and their relatively recent immigrant mothers tested a longitudinal family-level model of adolescent behavior problems. Mother-adolescent dyads (N = 530) completed measures of maternal and adolescent stressors, active and avoidance coping, and social support; maternal distress; quality of mother-child relationship; and adolescent behavior problems at Time 1 and approximately 18 months later.

Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support for Arab American adolescents.

The multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) was revised for Arab American adolescents (MSPSS-AA). Items measuring social support from significant others were omitted and items measuring support from school personnel were added based on advice from cultural experts. The sample consisted of 635 Arab American young adolescents in metropolitan Detroit.

Avoidance symptoms and assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder in Arab immigrant women.

This study investigates whether the avoidance symptom criterion required for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is overly conservative. Arab immigrant women (N = 453), many of whom reported experiencing multiple traumatic events, completed the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale in Arabic as part of a face to face interview. Analyses indicated all but one avoidance symptom was reported less frequently than reexperiencing and arousal symptoms.

Assessing reliability and validity of the Arabic language version of the Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) symptom items.

Arab immigrant women are vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of gender, higher probability of being exposed to war-related violence, traditional cultural values, and immigration stressors. A valid and reliable screen is needed to assess PTSD incidence in this population. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of an Arabic language version of the symptom items in Foa et al.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an Arab version of the Family Peer Relationship Questionnaire.

Little is known about parent and peer relationships in immigrant adolescents due to a dearth of culturally sensitive measures. We adapted the Family Peer Relationship Questionnaire (FPRQ) for Arab immigrant mothers and their adolescents. Mothers and adolescents completed parallel versions of the Arab FPRQ and measures of child behavior problems, child social relations, and maternal depression.

Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic language version of the Profile of Mood States.

We estimated the psychometrics of the parent and a short form of the Arabic language version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS). A sample of 537 Arab immigrants completed the POMS and a battery of other measures. Data analyses included confirmatory factor analyses and tests of reliability and concurrent validity.

Consumer dissatisfaction, self-treatment, and health service use in low income African American and white older persons.

Differences in dissatisfaction with health care (problems with providers, geographic access and appointment availability), self-treating symptoms, personal health responsibility, and health service use were investigated in low income African American and White older persons. Data on these topics were collected from 103 African Americans and 101 Whites and analyzed using analysis of covariance and multiple regression. After controlling for variables that typically explain health service use, African Americans reported significantly more dissatisfaction with health care (p < .

Health service use in Russian immigrant and nonimmigrant older persons.

Health service use was compared in Russian immigrant (n=105) and White nonimmigrant (n=101) older persons. Study participants completed a health utilization questionnaire, the Short-Form-36 Health Survey, and a health behavior diary. Controlling for health status and demographic variables, Russians reported significantly more service use, fewer physical access problems, and lower appointment availability, but nonimmigrants reported significantly more provider problems.

Measuring elders' symptoms with daily diaries and retrospective reports.

The current study investigated the sufficiency of symptom data collected for 7 days from a daily diary and the comparability and validity of data obtained from daily diaries and retrospective reports. Three hundred and five older persons completed a daily symptom diary, a retrospective symptom questionnaire, and a measure of health status. The number of symptoms endorsed each day on the diary declined, F(6, 214) = 13.

African American culture and hypertension prevention.

A qualitative study was done to explore attitudes and beliefs of African Americans regarding hypertension-preventive self-care behaviors. Five focus groups, with 34 participants, were held using interview questions loosely based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Analysis revealed themes broadly consistent with the TPB and also identified an overarching theme labeled "circle of culture.

Recruiting and retaining Arab Muslim mothers and children for research.

Purpose: To describe successful and not-so-successful strategies for recruiting and retaining Arab Muslim immigrant women and their adolescent children for research.

Design And Methods: A longitudinal study of mother-child adjustment of Arab immigrants to the US is used for illustration. A panel of experts was assembled and provided culturally specific advice about gatekeepers, advertising, data collectors, data collection, and how to track and encourage participation at subsequent time points in the study.

Equity, effectiveness, and efficiency in health care for immigrants and minorities: the essential triad for improving health outcomes.

This paper critically examines criteria for equitable, effective, and efficient health care and explores theoretical propositions about how these three components of health care affect health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Findings from four studies with older, low-income immigrants and minorities, including Chinese and Russian immigrants, U.S.