Abstract
Suboptimal self-management is a factor in chronic and intractable asthma. In particular, the symptom gap, in which patients feel symptoms are less severe than they actually are, invites suboptimal self-management. The aim of this study was to examine which factors (including the emotional cognition of the self) are associated with suboptimal self-management in asthma. Forty-one patients with asthma were studied with validated scales for alexithymia and empathy and questions about how patients evaluate the severity of asthma. Results showed that the symptom gap was positively correlated with the “perspective taking” of empathy. However, the “difficulty of describing feelings” of alexithymia was negatively correlated with the symptom gap. These results suggest that “perspective taking,” which is positively correlated with social adaptation, is a risk factor for suboptimal self-management. Not only alexithymia but also empathy traits were found to influence suboptimal self-management. Consequently, approaching both the emotional cognition of the self and others and considering empathy traits are important for achieving optimal self-management.
