title: Comorbidity of asthma and anxiety and depression in Puerto Rican children.
abstract: Studies have reported that childhood asthma is associated with internalizing disorders, but most of these studies have used global measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was administered to a group of 1891 youth ages 4 to 17 and their caregivers in Puerto Rico to determine DSM-IV symptoms and diagnoses. Asthma diagnosis and having had an asthma attack were assessed by parental report. A diagnosis of asthma was associated with having any depressive disorder and one symptom of separation anxiety. An asthma attack was associated with any depressive disorder and any anxiety disorder and, more specifically, with separation anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and symptoms of depression, separation anxiety, and generalized anxiety. Possible explanations for the findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion, Ohio State University School of Public Health, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. aortega@sph.osu.edu
authors.forename: Alexander N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: McQuaid
authors.forename: Glorisa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Canino
authors.forename: Renee D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Gregory K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Fritz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D012494:Sampling Studies