Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol.  2005 Mar;25(1):39-44.

The Relationships among Severity Score, Behavioral Problem, Parental Stress, Maternal Depression, and Social Support in Children with Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted in order to find out whether there are differences in behavioral characteristics between atopic and normal children and whether there are difference between the two groups in parental stress, maternal depression, and social support they perceived. Furthermore it was examined the relative influence of symptom severity score, parental stress, maternal depression, and social support contributing to behavioral characteristics of atopic children. METHOD: Forty patients with atopic dermatitis who showed higher than 15 of SASSAD (Six Area, Six Score in Atopic Dermatitis) score were enrolled. Their ages ranged from 4 to 16 years. Their mothers were subjected to parent-report questionnaire (Korean-Child Behavior Check List, Parenting Stress Index, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and Social Support Index). The matched control group of 39 children (mean age 6.4 years) without any chronic disease was selected in terms of age and sex, and socioeconomic status of parents. RESULT: 1) According to the analysis of K-CBCL, children with AD showed higher behavioral problem score in comparison to the children in control group. An increase in behavioral symptoms, notably withdrawal (P<.01), depression/anxiety (P<.001), aggression (P<.01), social immaturity (P<.01), and attentional problem (P<.01) was found in children with AD. 2) Mothers of children with AD perceived themselves as suffering from higher parental stress (P<.001) and depression (P<.001) compared to mothers of the control group. On the other hand there was no statistically significant difference in social support between two groups. 3) In relative influences of behavioral score, parental stress (beta=.379) was the most significant variable, accounting for 31% of variance. The higher parental stress was, the higher behavioral score atopic children showed. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the psychological dimensions of atopic dermatitis should be taken into account as part of routine intervention. Furthermore these results consistently underline the importance of psychological support for mothers of children with AD.


MeSH Terms

Aggression
Behavioral Symptoms
Child*
Chronic Disease
Depression*
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Epidemiologic Studies
Hand
Humans
Mothers
Parenting
Parents*
Social Class
Surveys and Questionnaires
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