Psychological Characteristics of Children and Adolescents with Headaches. |
Ji Yeon Kim, Jang Hoon Lee, So Hee Eun, Baik Lin Eun, Sang Ook Nam, Mi Kyoung Song |
1Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea. sheun@korea.ac.kr 2Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Korea. 3Graduate school of education, Seoul Women's University, Korea. |
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Abstract |
PURPOSE Headaches are associated with psychiatric illness, and can affect all aspects of a functioning child. We examined the behavioral and emotional problems of children and adolescents suffering from headaches. METHODS: Children and adolescents(N=269) aged 4 to 17 suffering from headaches and their age-matched controls(N=31) were assessed using the Korean Child Behavior Checklist(K-CBCL), Korean Personality Inventory for Children (KPI-C), and Children's Depression Inventory(CDI). RESULTS: Psychological profiles were analyzed in three stages. First, the primary headaches had a statistically significant tendency to show problems in anxiety, depression, somatization, and psychosis scales of KPI-C, and somatic complaints, thought, and internalizing problems of K-CBCL than in the control group(P<0.05). Second, migraines(N=162) and tension-type headaches(N=57) showed no statistically significant difference(P>0.05). Finally, the chronic daily headaches(CDH)(N=43) had statistically significantly higher scores in CDI and somatization of KPI-C than in the episodic headaches(P<0.05). In respect to ego-resilience scale of KPI-C, CDH had statistically significantly lower score than in the episodic headaches(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents with headaches show greater internalizing problems(anxiety, depression, somatization, and thought problems) than their healthy peers. Patients with CDH will have a negative effect on their adaptations because they have a lower ego-resilience and more symptoms of depression and somatization than children suffering from episodic headaches and controls. |
Key Words:
Headache, Child, Psychological factors |
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