title: Developmental trajectories of paediatric headache - sex-specific analyses and predictors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Headache is the most common pain disorder in children and adolescents and is associated with diverse dysfunctions and psychological symptoms. Several studies evidenced sex-specific differences in headache frequency. Until now no study exists that examined sex-specific patterns of change in paediatric headache across time and included pain-related somatic and (socio-)psychological predictors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) was used in order to identify different trajectory classes of headache across four annual time points in a population-based sample (n = 3 227; mean age 11.34 years; 51.2 % girls). In multinomial logistic regression analyses the influence of several predictors on the class membership was examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For girls, a four-class model was identified as the best fitting model. While the majority of girls reported no (30.5 %) or moderate headache frequencies (32.5 %) across time, one class with a high level of headache days (20.8 %) and a class with an increasing headache frequency across time (16.2 %) were identified. For boys a two class model with a 'no headache class' (48.6 %) and 'moderate headache class' (51.4 %) showed the best model fit. Regarding logistic regression analyses, migraine and parental headache proved to be stable predictors across sexes. Depression/anxiety was a significant predictor for all pain classes in girls. Life events, dysfunctional stress coping and school burden were also able to differentiate at least between some classes in both sexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identified trajectories reflect sex-specific differences in paediatric headache, as seen in the number and type of classes extracted. The documented risk factors can deliver ideas for preventive actions and considerations for treatment programmes.
authors.affiliation: Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Gosslerstraße 14, 37073, Göttingen, Germany. corinna.isensee@psych.uni-goettingen.de.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. corinna.isensee@psych.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isensee
authors.affiliation: Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Gosslerstraße 14, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Carolin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernandez Castelao
authors.affiliation: Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Gosslerstraße 14, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kröner-Herwig
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Developmental trajectories; LCGA; Paediatric headache; Sex-specific analyses