6533b85bfe1ef96bd12babab

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Maternal stress and childhood migraine: a new perspective on management

subject

description

"Background: Migraine without aura (MoA) is a primary headache frequent and disabling in developmental age. No reports concerning the prevalence and the degree of maternal stress and the impact of migraine in the parent-child interaction . The aim of study is to evaluate the prevalence of parental stress in a large pediatric sample of individuals affected by migraine without aura.. Methods: The study population consisted of 218 children (112 M, 106 F) aged between 6 and 13 years (mean 8.32 ± 2.06 years) and the control group was composed by 405 typical developing children (207 M, 198 F; mean age 8.54 ± 2.47 years). To assess the parental stress all individuals (MoA and comparisons), parents filled out the Parent Stress Index- Short Form (PSI-SF) test. . Results: The two study groups were matched for age (p=0.262), gender (p=0.983) and z-BMI (p=0.106). Mothers of MoA children reported an higher PSI-SF mean scores related to parental distress (PD, p<0.001), parent-children dysfunctional interaction (PCDI, p<0.001), difficult child (DC, p<0.001) and total stress than mothers’ comparisons (p<0.001). No differences between the two groups were found for the defensive responding scale (DEF). . Conclusion: Our study is the first report that highlights the presence of high level of stress in parents of children affected by migraine without aura.. " Background: Migraine without aura is a primary headache which is frequent and disabling in the developmental age group. No reports are available concerning the prevalence and impact of migraine in children on the degree of stress experienced by parents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of maternal stress in a large pediatric sample of individuals affected by migraine without aura. Methods: The study population consisted of 218 children (112 boys, 106 girls) of mean age 8.32 ± 2.06 (range 6-13) years suffering from migraine without aura and a control group of 405 typical developing children (207 boys, 198 girls) of mean age 8.54 ± 2.47 years. Mothers of children in each group answered the Parent Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) questionnaire to assess parental stress levels. Results: The two groups were matched for age (P = 0.262), gender (P = 0.983), and body mass index adjusted for age (P = 0.106). Mothers of children with migraine without aura reported higher mean PSI-SF scores related to the Parental Distress domain (P < 0.001), Dysfunctional Parent-Child Interaction domain (P < 0.001), Difficult Child subscale (P < 0.001), and Total Stress domain than mothers of controls (P < 0.001). No differences between the two groups were found for Defensive Responding subscale scores. Conclusion: Our study may be the first to highlight the presence of high levels of stress in parents of children affected by migraine without aura. © 2013 Esposito et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd.