The effect of illness experience and demographic factors on children's illness representations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative contribution of personal illness experience, age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status on the sophistication of children's illness conceptualisations of colds and asthma. A structured interview based on six dimensions of illness conceptualisations was conducted with 182 children aged from 7-14 years. Findings revealed that age, verbal intelligence, and socioeconomic status were significant predictors of level of illness conceptualisation. However, even when controlling for these demographic factors, the 35 children who had experienced asthma had more sophisticated conceptualisations of this illness particularly along the dimensions of cause, timeline and control/cure, but not along consequences, and prevention dimensions. These findings suggest that child health promotion should take into account children's experience with illness as well as cognitive developmental factors. Emphasising issues around the consequences and prevention of illnesses such as asthma may be of particular importance.