title: The stress of food allergy issues in daily life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Food allergies are a growing health concern, but their implications for daily psychological functioning are unknown. This micro-longitudinal study investigated the daily frequency of food allergy issues and how this related to experiences of stress, mood and physical energy.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eight adults with physician-diagnosed food allergies completed an initial Internet survey followed by a 2-week Internet daily diary survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  The initial survey collected socio-demographic and food allergy information. The daily survey collected information about the participants' experiences of stress, mood, physical energy and food allergy issues during that day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Commonly experienced allergy issues included negative physical symptoms, higher food prices, anxiety about safety of food, trouble maintaining a healthy diet and anxiety/stress at social occasions. Furthermore, multilevel modelling analyses showed that stress and negative mood were significantly higher on days with more allergy issues. Older adults experienced lower positive mood and physical energy on days with more issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to incorporate near to real-time tracking to examine the frequency of food allergy issues and the implications for daily psychological functioning. Targeting the issues we identified could reduce stress in patients with food allergies and improve their overall quality of life.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Food Science , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Rana L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Peniamina
authors.affiliation: a Department of Food Science , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirosa
authors.affiliation: a Department of Food Science , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bremer
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tamlin S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Conner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: allergy issues; daily diary; food allergy; hierarchical linear modelling; mood; stress