title: Parental psychosocial stress and asthma morbidity in Puerto Rican twins.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about paternal psychosocial factors and childhood asthma.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to examine the link between maternal and paternal psychosocial stress and asthma outcomes in young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of 339 pairs of Puerto Rican twins were interviewed individually about their own psychosocial stress and about asthma in their children at age 1 year and again about their child's asthma at age 3 years. Fathers were asked about symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and antisocial behavior. Mothers were asked about depressive symptoms. Outcomes assessed in children included recent asthma symptoms, oral steroid use and hospitalizations for asthma in the prior year, and asthma diagnosis. Generalized estimated equation models were used for the multivariate analysis of parental psychosocial stress and asthma morbidity in childhood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After multivariable adjustment, paternal PTSD symptoms, depression, and antisocial behavior were each associated with increased asthma symptoms at age 1 year (eg, odds ratio, 1.08 for each 1-point increase in PTSD score; 95% CI, 1.03-1.14). Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with an increased risk of asthma hospitalizations at age 1 year. At age 3 years, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with asthma diagnosis and hospitalizations for asthma (odds ratio for each 1-point increase in symptoms, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.00-1.36). In an analysis combining 1- and 3-year outcomes, paternal depression was associated with oral steroid use, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with asthma hospitalizations and asthma diagnosis, and parental depression was associated with hospitalizations for asthma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both paternal and maternal psychosocial factors can influence asthma morbidity in young Puerto Rican children.
authors.affiliation: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Supinda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bunyavanich
authors.forename: Judy L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Silberg
authors.forename: Glorisa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Canino
authors.forename: Bernard A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Celedón
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D014427:Twins