Maternal mental health and childhood asthma among Puerto Rican youth: the role of prenatal smoking

Depression or anxiety in adult twins is associated with asthma diagnosis but not with offspring asthma

BACKGROUND

Asthma is common in both children and adults in the Western world, just like anxiety and depression. While some research has revealed that these diseases might share important environmental and pathophysiological aspects, the exact mechanisms still remain unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To study the correlation firstly between depression or anxiety and asthma diagnosis in adult twins and secondly the association between parental depression or anxiety and offspring asthma in children of twins.

METHODS

In total, 24 685 adult twins aged 20-47 years were interviewed or completed a Web-based questionnaire and their children were identified through the Multi-Generation Register. Asthma diagnosis was obtained from the Patient Register and the Prescribed Drug Register. Assessment of depression and anxiety was obtained from questionnaires using Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), major depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) from DSM-IV. The association between depression or anxiety and asthma was analyzed with logistic regression adjusting for confounders in twins and offspring. To address genetic and familial environmental confounding, we performed a cotwin analysis using disease-discordant twin pairs.

RESULTS

We found an association between asthma and CES-D, major depression and GAD, for example adjusted OR for major depression and register-based asthma 1.56 (1.36-1.79). Most of the point estimates remained in the co-twin control analysis, indicating that the association was likely not due to genetic or familial environmental factors. There was no association between parental depression and/or anxiety and asthma diagnosis in the offspring which implies lack of genetic confounding.

CONCLUSIONS

We found an association between own asthma diagnosis and anxiety or depression, but not with offspring asthma. Our results indicate that the associations were not due to confounding from genes or environment shared by the twins.

A twin study of early-childhood asthma in Puerto Ricans

BACKGROUND

The relative contributions of genetics and environment to asthma in Hispanics or to asthma in children younger than 3 years are not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relative contributions of genetics and environment to early-childhood asthma by performing a longitudinal twin study of asthma in Puerto Rican children ≤ 3 years old.

METHODS

678 twin infants from the Puerto Rico Neo-Natal Twin Registry were assessed for asthma at age 1 year, with follow-up data obtained for 624 twins at age 3 years. Zygosity was determined by DNA microsatellite profiling. Structural equation modeling was performed for three phenotypes at ages 1 and 3 years: physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use in the past year, and ≥ 1 hospitalization for asthma in the past year. Models were additionally adjusted for early-life environmental tobacco smoke exposure, sex, and age.

RESULTS

The prevalences of physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma medication use, and hospitalization for asthma were 11.6%, 10.8%, 4.9% at age 1 year, and 34.1%, 40.1%, and 8.5% at 3 years, respectively. Shared environmental effects contributed to the majority of variance in susceptibility to physician-diagnosed asthma and asthma medication use in the first year of life (84%-86%), while genetic effects drove variance in all phenotypes (45%-65%) at age 3 years. Early-life environmental tobacco smoke, sex, and age contributed to variance in susceptibility.

CONCLUSION

Our longitudinal study in Puerto Rican twins demonstrates a changing contribution of shared environmental effects to liability for physician-diagnosed asthma and asthma medication use between ages 1 and 3 years. Early-life environmental tobacco smoke reduction could markedly reduce asthma morbidity in young Puerto Rican children.

Association of atopic and non-atopic asthma with emotional symptoms in school children

OBJECTIVE

To date, there is conflicting evidence whether the association between asthma and depression depends on the atopic or non-atopic asthma phenotype. This study investigates associations between emotional symptoms and atopic and non-atopic asthma in school-aged children.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data on asthma and allergic diseases at the 10-year follow-up of two birth cohorts were collected by parent-reported physician diagnoses. Specific IgE levels including most common inhalant allergens (SX1) and food allergens (FX5) were measured by RAST-CAP FEIA. Atopic asthma was defined as asthma ever and positive specific IgE test, non-atopic asthma as asthma ever and no IgE sensitization. Emotional symptoms were assessed by parent-reported strength and difficulty questionnaire. Logistic regression modeling were applied to determine likelihood of emotional symptoms in children with atopic and non-atopic asthma controlling for socio-demographic factors, body mass index, atopic eczema, allergic rhinitis, and pubertal development.

RESULTS

Non-atopic asthma was associated with about 3-fold higher likelihood of emotional symptoms compared to children with no asthma (ORadj = 2.90, CI95% = 1.46-5.73). Atopic asthma was not associated with emotional symptoms (ORadj = 1.35, CI95% = 0.81-2.26).

CONCLUSIONS

Atopic and non-atopic asthma in children might have different etiologies, whereas for non-atopic asthma, emotional symptoms are relevant, this is not the case in atopic asthma. The relationship between the non-atopic asthma phenotype and emotional symptoms might be dependent on gender.

Asthma and mental health among youth: etiology, current knowledge and future directions

Asthma and mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and behavior disorders, are common among youth and are significant sources of morbidity. There is a consistent association between asthma and anxiety/depression and a less consistent association between asthma and behavior disorders. Possible biological and psychological mechanisms may include inflammatory processes as well as the stress of having to live with a life-threatening condition. Future studies are warranted with longitudinal designs to establish temporality as well as measures of potential confounds. Biological and psychological measures would complement the longitudinal design to further establish causality. In addition, more information on the degree to which asthma and mental health have reciprocal influences on each other over time - and the mechanisms of these relationships - are needed in order to develop more effective intervention strategies to improve asthma control and mental health among those with both.

Puerto Rican families' experiences of asthma and use of the emergency department for asthma care

Puerto Ricans have been found to have higher asthma prevalence rates than non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and all other Hispanic subgroups. They also have the highest rates of emergency department (ED) use for the management of their asthma. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the aim of this study was to describe the lived experience of Puerto Rican families caring for their child's asthma and using the ED for asthma care. Six themes were generated from in-depth interviews with 10 Puerto-Rican caregivers: (1) The Folklore of Asthma, (2) Culture and the Medicine Woman, (3) In Awe of Asthma, (4) Praying to God, (5) The Decision-Time to Go, and (6) The ED Environment. The findings emphasize the necessity of establishing and maintaining a therapeutic partnership between primary care providers and families of children with asthma. The results may be used as a foundation for understanding motivations for seeking asthma care in the ED.

Maternal and childhood asthma: risk factors, interactions, and ramifications

Asthma is emerging as a premier example of a health risk that can largely be molded by the status of the mother and the environmental conditions encountered during sensitive windows of prenatal and early childhood development. While genetic background, allergic status of parents, and predisposition for atopy and inflammation play a role, early-life environmental conditions can completely alter the course of immune and respiratory system development. Environmentally induced alterations that (1) maintain the Th2 bias seen during gestation, (2) block the maturation of innate immune cells and (3) create inflammatory dysfunction in the infant provide the foundation for childhood asthma. No single risk factor can fully explain the increased prevalence of asthma in recent decades but it is assumed that the rapid increase is due to environmental and/or epigenetic changes. Well-established and suspected environmental risk factors cover all categories of early life interactions from diet, exposure to environmental contaminants and drugs, maternal and neonatal infections, hygiene, timing of vaccinations and even the mode of birth delivery. Because asthma is connected to the risk of several comorbid chronic conditions, the benefit of asthma risk reduction and prevention is greater than initially may be apparent. This review discusses strategies to optimize preventative and therapeutic options across life stages.

The role of caregiver major depression in the relationship between anxiety disorders and asthma attacks in island Puerto Rican youth and young adults

The goal of this study was to assess whether the association between asthma attacks and anxiety disorders in youth/young adults is reduced after adjusting for the caregivers' psychiatric disorders. An island-wide probability sample of 641 households in Puerto Rico with youth/young adults between ages 10 and 25 years participated along with their caregivers. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview were conducted to assess anxiety and depressive disorders. Youth/young adults with an anxiety disorder were more likely to have a lifetime history of asthma attacks versus youth/young adults without an anxiety disorder. Caregivers of participants with asthma attacks were more likely to have major depression than did the caregivers of participants without asthma attacks. The association between asthma attacks and anxiety disorders in youth was no longer significant after adjustment for caregiver major depression. It is important to consider the role of caregiver depression in asthma-anxiety comorbidity in youth/young adults.

Parental psychosocial stress and asthma morbidity in Puerto Rican twins

BACKGROUND

Little is known about paternal psychosocial factors and childhood asthma.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to examine the link between maternal and paternal psychosocial stress and asthma outcomes in young children.

METHODS

Parents of 339 pairs of Puerto Rican twins were interviewed individually about their own psychosocial stress and about asthma in their children at age 1 year and again about their child's asthma at age 3 years. Fathers were asked about symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and antisocial behavior. Mothers were asked about depressive symptoms. Outcomes assessed in children included recent asthma symptoms, oral steroid use and hospitalizations for asthma in the prior year, and asthma diagnosis. Generalized estimated equation models were used for the multivariate analysis of parental psychosocial stress and asthma morbidity in childhood.

RESULTS

After multivariable adjustment, paternal PTSD symptoms, depression, and antisocial behavior were each associated with increased asthma symptoms at age 1 year (eg, odds ratio, 1.08 for each 1-point increase in PTSD score; 95% CI, 1.03-1.14). Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with an increased risk of asthma hospitalizations at age 1 year. At age 3 years, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with asthma diagnosis and hospitalizations for asthma (odds ratio for each 1-point increase in symptoms, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.00-1.36). In an analysis combining 1- and 3-year outcomes, paternal depression was associated with oral steroid use, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with asthma hospitalizations and asthma diagnosis, and parental depression was associated with hospitalizations for asthma.

CONCLUSIONS

Both paternal and maternal psychosocial factors can influence asthma morbidity in young Puerto Rican children.