The Observed Association between Maternal Anxiety and Adolescent Asthma: Children of Twin Design Suggest Familial Effects

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious studies indicate that maternal anxiety is associated with asthma in the adolescent child, but mechanisms are unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between maternal anxiety and maternal, self- and register-based report of asthma in the adolescent child, and whether the association remains after control of familial confounding (shared environmental and genetic factors).MethodFrom the Twin and Offspring Study of Sweden, 1691 mothers (1058 twins) and their adolescent child were included. The association between maternal self-reported anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) somatic or psychic anxiety) and asthma based on subjective (maternal or child report) or objective (register-based diagnosis and medication) measures were analysed using logistic regression. The children-of-twins design was used to explore whether genes or environment contribute to the association.ResultsMaternal BAI anxiety (OR 2.02, CI 1.15–3.55) was significantly associated with adolescent asthma reported by the mother. Maternal KSP somatic anxiety (OR 1.74, CI 1.04–2.91) and psychic anxiety (OR 1.74, CI 1.05–2.86) was significantly associated with breathlessness reported by the adolescent child. In contrast, maternal anxiety was not associated with increased risk for the register-based outcomes of asthma diagnosis or medication. The results remained also after adjusting for covariates and the children-of-twins analyses which indicate that the association was due to familial confounding.ConclusionsWe found some associations between maternal anxiety and subjectively reported offspring asthma or breathlessness which may be due to familial effects. A likely candidate for explaining this familial confounding is heritable personality traits associated with both anxiety and subjective measures of asthma.

Depression or anxiety in adult twins is associated with asthma diagnosis but not with offspring asthma

“…We have previously studied adult twins and their spouses and adolescent children and found some association between self‐reported maternal anxiety and subjectively reported offspring asthma or breathlessness which may be due to familial effects . This can be further studied in a population of adult twins and their children where a co‐twin control design may help differentiate between environmental and genetic confounding of an association between depression or anxiety and offspring asthma.…”

Integruotas Požiūris Į Vaikų Atopinio Dermatito Raišką: Psichosomatinis Aspektas Ir Sąsajos Su Emocinių Sunkumų Patyrimu

“…Bendra psichologinė atmosfera šeimoje, santykio su šeimos nariais išgyvenimas yra svarbūs tiek formuojantis emociniams sunkumams, tiek sietini su atopinių ligų raida [24,26,39,47]. Emocinių sunkumų patyrimas turi sąryšį su tėvų naudojamomis auklėjimo strategijomis.…”

“…Vienas galimų aiškinimų sutrikimą sieja su motinos nerimu nėš-tumo metu, kuris gali sukelti pakitimų vaisiaus smegenyse, būtent anksčiau minėtoje pagumburio -hipofizės -antinkščių ašyje. Taip pat gali būti, jog vaiko liga esti nulemta genetiškai -jis paveldi nerimastingumą kaip charakterio bruožą, o astma yra didelio nerimo išveikos būdas [47]. Negalėtume paneigti ir fakto, jog tėvų asmeninės savybės susijusios su bendru šeimos klimatu, santykio su vaiku mezgimo būdais ir reikalavimais vaikui, o tai, kaip minėta, svarbu vaikui sėkmingai vystytis.…”

Can prenatal maternal stress increase the risk of asthma?

“…In addition, the limitations of cross-sectional study designs and potential biases due to self-reporting of stress surrogates and asthma-related symptoms and physician's diagnoses need to be cautiously evaluated. Some of these limitations were nicely addressed using an elegant study design and the data from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden [16]. Maternal self-reported anxiety was assessed in 1691 mothers and was associated with several asthma indicators in their offspring.…”