Work

Pediatric Food Allergies and Psychosocial Functioning: Examining the Potential Moderating Roles of Maternal Distress and Overprotection

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Identify factors associated with maternal perceptions of health-related quality of life (QoL) among youth with food allergies (FA), and identify maternal factors that may moderate relationships between FA-related challenges and child QoL. METHODS: In all, 533 mothers of children with FA completed measures assessing characteristics of their child's FA, maternal perceptions of child QoL, maternal psychological distress, and maternal overprotection. RESULTS: FA severity, maternal psychological distress, and overprotection were significantly associated with maternal reports of poorer child functioning and/or poorer QoL among youth with FA. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed an FA severity by maternal distress interaction in the prediction of child FA-related anxiety; children of higher stress mothers showed a stronger link between auto-injector use and anxiety than children of lower stress mothers. CONCLUSIONS: When identifying youth with FA who are at risk for low QoL, it is important to assess history of FA-related challenges, parental psychological distress, and overprotection.

Source: Journal of Pediatric Psychology

DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsv058

Authors: Candice Chow, Donna B. Pincus, Jonathan S. Comer

Institutions: Harvard University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston University, Florida International University

Language: English

Topic: Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Research

Subfield: Immunology and Allergy

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Zero hunger

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Weil Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health