Behavioural and mental health profiles in childhood hay fever

Abstract

Objectives.To investigate the association between childhood hay fever and emotional and behavioural disturbances.Design. Cross-sectional controlled clinical study. The hay fever group was compared with an age-matched control group without any atopic symptoms.Mean age for the groups was 7.8 years (SD 0.7).Method. The dependent variables were normalized t-scores on the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL 4-16, version 2.2; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). In series of ANOVAs, the hay fever group (N = 43,23 boys and 20 girls) was compared with healthy controls (N = 51, 28 boys and 23 girls).Results. The hay fever group had significantly higher scores on depression, withdrawal, somatic complaints and aggression. They also had a significantly higher total problem score and higher scores on the internalizing and the externalizing scales. There were no differences on the social competence scales. Conclusions.Children suffering from hay fever show other behavioural and emotional coping patterns than normals. Investigators should be reluctant in attributing the CBCL somatic symptom scale to psychological disturbances.

Hay fever in childhood, traits Neuroticism and Conscientiousness as independent predictors of the occurrence of hay fever in adulthood

“…Bell et al (1993) investigated the correlates of shyness as a risk factor for hay fever, revealing that individuals with hay fever had significantly higher shyness and depression scores, indicating a vulnerable temperament. When assessing the narrow-band scales of the Child Behaviour Checklist, Watten and Faleide (1996) found that children with hay fever exhibited higher scores on the depression scale, social withdrawal scale, somatic complaints scale and the aggression scale. Most children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also displayed symptoms and skin prick test results consistent with AR (Brawley et al, 2004).…”

“…However, the research on personality correlates with hay fever (allergic rhinitis (AR)) has been described as insufficient and still up for debate (Bielous et al, 2010; Watten and Faleide, 1996). This study looks at social and psychological correlates of adult hay fever problems.…”