Mothers' mental health and children's asthma

Researchers from the Kyushu University Institute of Health Science in Japan have been looking into the influence of mothers' parenting styles and mental health on their children's asthma. They studied 223 mothers who had children between the ages of two and 12. The study found that children over the age of seven suffered more severe attacks if their mothers were overprotective. Mothers who were chronically angry, irritated or who suppressed their emotions also had children who suffered more with asthma.

Art therapy, anxiety and asthma

Children with asthma can often also suffer from anxiety; something that tends to make their condition worse. Anya Beebe, an art therapist at the National Jewish Health in Denver led a study into whether art therapy could help children with asthma feel less anxious. The study involved 22 children between the ages of 7 and 14 with persistent asthma. 11 of them received art therapy and the rest received 'care as usual.'The children were tested using several standardized measures for coping skills, anxiety, worry, self-concept, and quality of life before the first therapy session, at the end of the last session and six months later. At the end of seven weeks, the art therapy group had lower anxiety and higher quality-of-life and self-concept scores than the group that didn't have art therapy. The improvements persisted, although they were not as pronounced, six months later.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64K5MZ20100521?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Mothers' depression and children's asthma

Children whose mothers are depressed may suffer more with their asthma. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Children's Center analysed data from interviews with 262 African-American women whose children suffered from the condition, which African-Americans are known to be particularly vulnerable to. They found that when the mothers were more depressed their children's symptoms worsened. However, worsening symptoms among the children did not lead to more depression in the mothers. The researchers thought that the women might become less effective at managing their children's condition - by making sure they took the right amount of medicine at the right times - the worse their depression got.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/11/23/maternal-depression-can-stress-childs-health/9729.html

Neurosis and asthma

People who are neurotic are at greater risk of developing asthma. Neurotic people tend to be more pessimistic, worry more and have more emotional ups and downs than other people. Researchers from Heidelberg University studied 5,114 people aged between 40 and 65 examining the links between neuroticism, stressful life events and asthma. Around 2% of the people who were free of asthma at the start of the study developed it during the eight-year follow up period. People who were highly neurotic were three times more likely to develop asthma than others. Divorce or separation increased the risk of asthma in women but not in men. Unemployment and the death of a loved one were not significantly associated with the development of asthma.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE59L57Q20091022?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Depression, asthma and E.T.

Stressful and depressing events could make certain children's asthma worse. Researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo showed 90 children with asthma scenes from E.T. The children were 7-17 years old and half of them had depression as well as asthma. The children with asthma and depression consistently showed breathing difficulties after watching distressing scenes from the film whereas the children with asthma but no depression were unaffected.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE57H58220090818?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Asthma, sleep and bad behaviour

Children whose asthma stops them from sleeping may be at significantly more risk of developing behaviour problems. Researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York studied 194 children with asthma aged between four and ten. They found that those children with sleep-disordered breathing had significantly worse behaviour than other children. They also had worse scores for depression and anxiety, antisocial behaviour, hyperactivity and peer conflict.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE56969M20090710?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Childhood adversity, anxiety and asthma

Psychological factors, like stress and anxiety, can make people's asthma worse. However, a new study of 18,000 adults in the Americas, Europe and Asia has suggested that childhood adversity - such as the death of a parent or physical abuse - and mental-health problems could lead to the development of the condition in adulthood. The study used interviews carried out between 2001 and 2004 as part of the World Mental Health surveys and was analysed by researchers at the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand. It found that childhood adversity predicted adult-onset asthma. The more 'adversities,' such as child abuse, parental neglect, parental divorce, parental mental disorder and family violence that a child experienced the greater the risk of developing asthma as an adult. Anxiety and depression in childhood was also a strong predictor of asthma later in life. Stress is known to have an effect on the immune system so this could be the mechanism that leads to the increased risk of asthma.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKTRE50J6U520090120?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0