Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Available research indicates that improvement in illness management is closely related to better physical and psychological wellbeing and community integration among people with chronic illness (PCIs). Nevertheless, until now limited research has been conducted to develop a robust tool to assess illness management. Accordingly, this study developed an illness management instrument (IMI) and examined its psychometric properties by using survey data collected from 497 adolescents and young adults (mean age = 30 years) with chronic illness in Hong Kong. Our results support a 4-factor structure representing coping with stigma, self-efficacy, treatment adherence, and reduced self-stigma. Results of Cronbach’s alpha tests indicated that the measure is of good reliability, and correlations between the IMI and emotional and behavioral functioning confirmed the scale’s good concurrent validity. Overall, the IMI proved to be a psychometrically robust measure for capturing illness management among Hong Kong PCIs, and we discuss its implications for future research.