Psychological stress and family functioning in mothers of children with allergic rhinitis.
OBJECTIVE
Psychiatric symptoms are observed more commonly in mothers of children with allergic disease compared to the general population. In our study, we aimed to compare family functioning and anxiety parameters in mothers of children diagnosed allergic rhinitis and healthy controls.


METHODS
Study group consisted of 82 mothers of 7-15 years old children with allergic rhinitis. Control group consisted of 70 mothers of children with no chronic diseases. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) scales was obtained from participants.


RESULTS
Anxiety scores in mother of children with allergic rhinitis were significantly higher than the ones in the control group (50+/-7.54, 32+/-5.44, p=0.02, respectively). Family assessment scores were higher in mother of children with allergic rhinitis when compared to the control group but did not reach statistical significance (1.89+/-0.12, 1.87+/-0.95, p=0.19, respectively). Smoking status at home and jobless father were found to have a significant impact on the evaluation scale in mothers in the case group.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric symptoms observed in mothers of children with allergic rhinitis might be associated with child disease and the functioning of the entire family rather than features of the mother alone. Having a child with allergic rhinitis does not affect family functions according to the mother's aspect.
Department of Paediatrics, Vakif Gureba Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. minozkaya@yahoo.com
Ozkaya
O
Emin
Solmaz
S
Mustafa
Samanci
S
Nedim
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013315:Stress, Psychological