Parental Stress May Exacerbate Asthma Symptoms in Children

According to a study in Pediatric Pulmonology, asthma symptoms in children may be worsened by parental stress resulting from financial hardship.

“Considering the important associations between psychosocial factors and asthma symptoms, studies specifically focused on the psychosocial environment rather than other physical environmental factors are limited in Australia,” the investigators wrote. Therefore, they conducted a study to ascertain the prevalent trajectories of various psychosocial environmental factors and examine their connections to asthma symptom trajectories among children.

The researchers utilized data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which comprised participants from 0 to 1 year to 14 to 15 years of age. Asthma symptoms, particularly wheezing, were considered the primary outcome. Psychosocial environmental factors served as exposures. Group-based trajectory modeling was employed to identify distinct trajectory groups for both exposure and outcome variables. The associations between psychosocial factors and 3 distinct asthma symptom trajectories were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression.

The study comprised 3917 children from the LSAC birth cohort. The results suggested a 77% higher likelihood of elevated wheezing rates in children whose parents experienced moderate to increasing stress levels compared with those patients whose parents had fewer stressors.

Additionally, the study reported a 55% increased likelihood of heightened wheezing rates among children whose mothers dealt with moderate levels of maternal depression. Likewise, children with parents confronting moderate financial hardship faced a 40% elevated risk of experiencing respiratory issues.

The researchers advocated for further investigation to identify effective interventions addressing maternal depression, financial strain, and parental stress to enhance long-term asthma control in children.