The role of attachment insecurity in the emergence of anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents with migraine: an empirical study

Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Disorders in Children and Adolescents With Migraine: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance

Though it is presumed that children and adolescents with migraine are at risk of internalizing symptoms and disorders, high-level summative evidence to support this clinical belief is lacking.

Objective

To determine if there is an association between internalizing symptoms and disorders and migraine in children and adolescents.

Data Sources

A librarian-led, peer-reviewed search was performed using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases (inception to March 28, 2022).

Study Selection

Case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies on the association between internalizing symptoms and disorders and migraine in children and adolescents 18 years or younger were eligible.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Two investigators independently completed abstract and full-text screening, data extraction, and quality appraisal using the Newcastle-Ottawa scales. Studies were pooled with random-effects meta-analyses using standardized mean differences (SMD) or odds ratios (OR) with 95% CIs. Where sufficient data for pooling were unavailable, studies were described qualitatively.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was migraine diagnosis; additional outcomes included migraine outcomes and incidence. Associations between these outcomes and internalizing symptoms and disorders were evaluated.

Results

The study team screened 4946 studies and included 80 studies in the systematic review. Seventy-four studies reported on the association between internalizing symptoms and disorders and migraine, and 51 studies were amenable to pooling. Meta-analyses comparing children and adolescents with migraine with healthy controls showed: (1) an association between migraine and anxiety symptoms (SMD, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.64-1.63); (2) an association between migraine and depressive symptoms (SMD, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.46-0.87); and (3) significantly higher odds of anxiety disorders (OR, 1.93, 95% CI, 1.49-2.50) and depressive disorders (OR, 2.01, 95% CI, 1.46-2.78) in those with, vs without, migraine. Stratification of results did not reveal differences between clinical vs community/population-based samples and there was no evidence of publication bias. Twenty studies assessing the association between internalizing symptoms or disorders and migraine outcomes (n = 18) or incident migraine (n = 2) were summarized descriptively given significant heterogeneity, with minimal conclusions drawn.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this study, children and adolescents with migraine were at higher risk of anxiety and depression symptoms and disorders compared with healthy controls. It may be beneficial to routinely screen children and adolescents with migraine for anxiety and depression in clinical practice. It is unclear whether having anxiety and depressive symptoms or disorders has an affect on migraine outcomes or incidence.

The Role of Attachment Style, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Dissociation in Migraine

Migraine and chronic migraine are caused by a combination of modifiable and non-modifiable genetic, social, behavioral and environmental risk factors. Further research of possible modifiable risk factors for this headache disorder is merited, given its role as one of the leading causes of years lived with disability per year. The first aim of this online cross-sectional study was to investigate the psychosocial risk factors that predicted chronic migraine and severe migraine-related disability in 507 Irish and UK participants, focusing specifically on childhood maltreatment, attachment and tendency to dissociate, or experience depressed mood and/or anxiety. Additionally, this study aimed to examine variables that mediated the relationships between these psychosocial risk factors and migraine chronicity or severe migraine-related disability. Adjusted binary logistic regression revealed that shutdown dissociation (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.57, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 2.66-7.85) and severe physical abuse (OR 4.30, 95% CI 1.44-12.83 had significant odds of predicting migraine chronicity, while depression (OR 3.28, 95% CI 1.86-5.77) significantly predicted severe migraine-related disability. Mediation analyses indicated that shutdown dissociation mediated the relationship between seven predictor variables and both chronicity and severe disability including possible predisposing factors emotional abuse, physical neglect, avoidant attachment and anxious attachment. These findings suggest that early life stressors (such as childhood trauma and avoidant attachment style), shutdown dissociation and depression may impact on migraine trajectory. To investigate whether these psychosocial factors are risk factors for migraine chronicity or disability, prospective research should be conducted in this area to account for fluctuations in migraine chronicity over time.

A two-generation study: The transmission of attachment and young adults' depression, anxiety, and social media addiction

Social media use is on the rise among young adults (YA) and evidence suggests a positive association between social media addiction (SMA) and the psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety globally. However, the contribution of attachment and its transgenerational influence on YAs' SMA and psychological symptoms have not been widely explored. Thus, we examined how parental reports of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) can directly and through YAs' attachment predict YAs' SMA, depression and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 375 YAs (M_Age = 21.22) and their parents completed the Emotions in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (Deragotis, 1992). The SMA Scale (Sahin, 2018) was responded to by only YAs. We tested the pattern of associations in a path model. Parental attachment anxiety predicted YAs' attachment anxiety and only paternal attachment avoidance predicted YAs' attachment avoidance. YAs' attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their depression and anxiety. However, YAs' attachment anxiety uniquely predicted their SMA. Both parents' attachment anxiety indirectly predicted the link between YAs' attachment anxiety and depression, but only paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and depression. Furthermore, paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and anxiety symptoms. Maternal attachment anxiety indirectly predicted SMA via YAs' attachment anxiety. While parental anxiety and paternal avoidance may impact YAs' symptoms, YAs' and maternal attachment anxiety can shape SMA. The findings about the differential role of attachment in YAs' psychological symptoms and SMA can facilitate further research and interventions.

Attachment representation to caregivers and mentalizing ability in early adolescents with primary headache

Primary headache (PH) is a common somatic disorder in childhood with a strong impact in terms of quality of life. There are several risk factors related to the development of this disorder including environmental factors as attachment bonds. However, studies in this direction are relatively few and have often used self-report or semi-projective measures looking at the only maternal attachment. Moreover, several studies have shown a link between somatoform pains and mentalizing abilities, but the relation between mentalizing and PH in childhood is unexplored. Therefore, this study aims at exploring attachment bonds, focusing on both maternal and paternal representations and mentalizing abilities in early adolescents with and without PH within a cross-sectional case-controlled design. A sample of 94 early adolescents aged 10-14 years (47 with PH and 47 without PH as a comparison group) completed the Child Attachment Interview to assess attachment representations to caregivers. Mentalizing abilities were assessed applying to the interviews in the Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale. PH adolescents showed a greater percentage of insecure-preoccupied attachment to both parents, with higher level of preoccupied anger especially to father than the comparison group (p values from 0.000 to 0.014, effect size values from.31 to.45), while no differences emerged about mentalizing (p values from.264 to 0.312). The over-representation of insecure-preoccupied attachment to both parents suggests a key role of parent-child interaction in early adolescents with PH, while the role of mentalizing abilities remains controversial and further studies are needed to address this issue. Clinical implications are discussed.

Prevalence of headache and associated factors among adolescents: results of a population-based study

INTRODUCTION

Cephalalgia is one of the most common somatic complaints related to health problems in childhood and adolescence.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the cephalalgia prevalence in adolescents from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, and associated factors.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional population-based study, carried out in 2015, with 539 adolescents of both sexes, aged between 15 and 19 years. The information was collected in a household survey, and the participants were selected from probabilistic sampling. Frequencies, χ2 test and logistic regression analysis were used in the study, and significance level was 5%.

RESULTS

the estimated prevalence of cephalalgia was 38.2% (95%CI 33.8 - 42.7), and 7.8% (95%CI 5.6 - 10.7), migraine. The associated factors for cephalalgia were: female sex (OR = 2.2; 95%CI 1.4 - 3.4), Common Mental Disorder (OR = 2.8; 95%CI 1.7 - 4.9), vision impairment (OR = 2.6; 95%CI 1.6 - 4.2), besides back pain (OR = 2.2; 95%CI 1.3 - 3.5), sinusitis (OR = 2.0; 95%CI 1.2 - 3.4) and incomplete elementary education (OR = 3.0; 95%CI 1.6 - 5.6).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of headache among adolescents in the city of São Paulo represented more than 1/3 (one third) of this population. The main associated factors were sex, low schooling and the following comorbidities: common mental disorder and vision impairment.

When a Head Is about to Burst: Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Migraine

Background: People exposed to childhood trauma show insecure attachment patterns and are more prone to chronic and pain-related conditions, including migraine. The aim of this study was to explore the mediating role of attachment in the association between childhood trauma and adulthood chronic health conditions, with a focus on migraine. Methods: Respondents from a representative sample of citizens of the Czech Republic (n = 1800, mean age: 46.6 years, 48.7% male) were asked to report various chronic and pain-related conditions, childhood trauma (The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ), and attachment anxiety and avoidance (The Experience in Close Relationships Revised, ECR-R) in a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey conducted in 2016. Structural equation models (SEM) adjusted for sociodemographic variables were used to assess the relationship between childhood trauma, adulthood attachment, and adulthood chronic health conditions (migraine, other pain-related conditions, chronic health conditions other than pain, no chronic health complaints). Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, SEM confirmed a significant mediation of the relationship between childhood trauma and migraine through adulthood attachment. There was no mediation effect of adulthood attachment found in other health complaints. Conclusion: This study highlights the mediation effect of attachment in the link between childhood trauma and migraine. Attachment-based therapeutic interventions can be useful in the treatment of patients with migraine.

Associations between attachment and pain: From infant to adolescent

Pain experience is a negative complex phenomenon influenced by several mechanisms. Attachment processes may affect the way in which individuals experience and signal pain. Hence, in the last two decades, the role of attachment quality has drawn attention in pain research and practice. However, previous reviews on this topic focused on adulthood and/or specific types or pain. We conducted a narrative review examining the association between attachment and different pain conditions from infancy to adolescence. Two independent researchers searched scientific databases for relevant papers. A total of 17 articles were included. Results highlight the following: (a) children and adolescents with chronic idiopathic pain showed low rates of attachment security compared to control groups; (b) pain conditions are consistently associated with elevated rates of at-risk pattern of attachment and information processing; and (c) the presence of unresolved trauma or loss is higher in children and adolescent who experienced pain compared to healthy controls. Despite the significance of these empirical evidences, the impact of caregiving environment and interpersonal context on pain experience in infancy and preschool age is poorly investigated compared to adulthood. Research on pain and attachment needs to be extended since the majority of the studies are limited to specific pain conditions. Future research should investigate the role of anxious attachment on procedural pain and transition from acute to chronic pain, testing new conceptual models. These findings shed light on the importance of relational factors and psychosocial vulnerabilities in pain clinical practice. An attachment-informed approach to pain will help health professionals to offer adequate support during procedures and to increase effectiveness of interventions. A developmental perspective is needed to integrate familial and relational contribution into a multimodal assessment and treatment of pain. Longitudinal studies are recommended.

In Search of Biomarkers for Pathogenesis and Control of Leishmaniasis by Global Analyses of Leishmania-Infected Macrophages

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne, neglected tropical disease with a worldwide distribution that can present in a variety of clinical forms, depending on the parasite species and host genetic background. The pathogenesis of this disease remains far from being elucidated because the involvement of a complex immune response orchestrated by host cells significantly affects the clinical outcome. Among these cells, macrophages are the main host cells, produce cytokines and chemokines, thereby triggering events that contribute to the mediation of the host immune response and, subsequently, to the establishment of infection or, alternatively, disease control. There has been relatively limited commercial interest in developing new pharmaceutical compounds to treat leishmaniasis. Moreover, advances in the understanding of the underlying biology of Leishmania spp. have not translated into the development of effective new chemotherapeutic compounds. As a result, biomarkers as surrogate disease endpoints present several potential advantages to be used in the identification of targets capable of facilitating therapeutic interventions considered to ameliorate disease outcome. More recently, large-scale genomic and proteomic analyses have allowed the identification and characterization of the pathways involved in the infection process in both parasites and the host, and these analyses have been shown to be more effective than studying individual molecules to elucidate disease pathogenesis. RNA-seq and proteomics are large-scale approaches that characterize genes or proteins in a given cell line, tissue, or organism to provide a global and more integrated view of the myriad biological processes that occur within a cell than focusing on an individual gene or protein. Bioinformatics provides us with the means to computationally analyze and integrate the large volumes of data generated by high-throughput sequencing approaches. The integration of genomic expression and proteomic data offers a rich multi-dimensional analysis, despite the inherent technical and statistical challenges. We propose that these types of global analyses facilitate the identification, among a large number of genes and proteins, those that hold potential as biomarkers. The present review focuses on large-scale studies that have identified and evaluated relevant biomarkers in macrophages in response to Leishmania infection.

The Role of Difficulty in Identifying and Describing Feelings in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Behavior (NSSI): Associations With Perceived Attachment Quality, Stressful Life Events, and Suicidal Ideation

Objective: Core alexithymic features, such as the difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, are associated with poor attachment styles and emotional trauma, which influence the capacity to regulate affect. Additionally, emotional regulation has been found to be the most commonly identified function associated with non-suicidal self-injury behavior (NSSI) in adolescents as they attempt to modulate strong emotions. However, few studies have examined the link between difficulty in identifying and describing feelings (core components of alexithymia), NSSI behaviors, quality of attachment, life stressors and suicidal ideation in healthy early adolescents. Consequently, this study aims to investigate these constructs and the relationship among them in a large non-clinical sample of adolescents.

Methods: Seven hundred and nine middle school students (50.4% males), aged 10–15 years (M = 12.6; SD = 1.06) were involved in this study. In order to investigate the variables considered in the study, the following measures were administered: the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory exploring non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors; the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children examining difficulty in identifying and describing feelings; the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment assessing the quality of parental and peer attachment; the Life Stressor Checklist-Revised outlining stressful/traumatic events and the Children’s Depression Inventory evaluating suicidal ideation.

Results: We found significantly positive relationships among difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, NSSI behaviors, stressful events, and suicidal ideation. Data indicated a significant negative association of difficulty in identifying and describing feelings with quality of attachment to parents and peers. Further findings highlighted that difficulty in identifying and describing feelings significantly mediated the effect of quality of attachment (parent and peer) on NSSI and suicidal ideation.

Conclusion: The ability to identify and describing feelings is important to managing emotional expression and understanding the feelings of others, both crucial in attaining successful interpersonal relationships. Our data revealed that, while controlling for stressful life events, low levels of attachment may increase adolescents’ difficulty in identifying and describing their own feelings, which in turn may increase the risk of both NSSI and suicidal ideation.

Headache and Alexithymia in Children and Adolescents: What Is the Connection?

Background: Headache is one of the most common complaints in children and adolescents and comorbidity rates are very high and the major associated diseases are depression, anxiety, atopic disorders, sleep, and behavioral disorders. In recent years, it has been highlighted that difficulties regulating emotions such as alexithymia have also been associated with diagnosis of somatization. Methods: We carried out a mini review analyzing the relation between alexithymia and primary headache (e.g., migraine and tension type headache) in children and adolescents by synthesizing the relevant studies in the literature on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Search terms were "alexithymia" combined with the "primary headache," "migraine," "tension type headache," "children," and "adolescents." Results: All analyzed studies found higher levels of alexithymia in children and adolescents with headache than control groups but there are different opinions about the relationship between headache and alexithymia. For example, some studies suggest that the association between headache and alexithymia in children may be due to an incomplete development of emotive competency or a general immature cognitive development, instead other studies found a correlation between headache symptoms, insecure attachment, and alexithymia. There seems to be also differences between children with migraine compared to those with tension type headache (TTH). Conclusion: There are some studies on adults suffering from headache or migraine and alexithymia, but there is only a moderate amount of research on pediatric age with different opinions and theories about this relationship. Further studies on children and adolescents are necessary to effectively understand this relationship and to help children to reduce headache and improve emotional consciousness.

Maternal Alexithymia and Attachment Style: Which Relationship with Their Children's Headache Features and Psychological Profile?

INTRODUCTION

A growing body of literature has shown an association between somatic symptoms and insecure "attachment style." In a recent study, we found a relationship between migraine severity, ambivalent attachment style, and psychological symptoms in children/adolescents. There is evidence that caregivers' attachment styles and their way of management/expression of emotions can influence children's psychological profile and pain expression. To date, data dealing with headache are scarce. Our aim was to study the role of maternal alexithymia and attachment style on their children's migraine severity, attachment style, and psychological profile.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We enrolled 84 consecutive patients suffering from migraine without aura (female: 45, male: 39; mean age 11.8 ± 2.4 years). According to headache frequency, children/adolescents were divided into two groups: (1) high frequency (patients reporting from weekly to daily attacks), and (2) low frequency (patients having ≤3 episodes per month). We divided headache attacks intensity into two groups (mild and severe pain). SAFA "Anxiety," "Depression," and "Somatization" scales were used to explore children's psychological profile. To evaluate attachment style, the semi-projective test SAT for patients and ASQ Questionnaire for mothers were employed. Maternal alexithymia traits were assessed by TAS-20.

RESULTS

We found a significant higher score in maternal alexithymia levels in children classified as "ambivalent," compared to those classified as "avoiding" (Total scale: p = 0.011). A positive correlation has been identified between mother's TAS-20 Total score and the children's SAFA-A Total score (p = 0.026). In particular, positive correlations were found between maternal alexithymia and children's "Separation anxiety" (p = 0.009) and "School anxiety" (p = 0.015) subscales. Maternal "Externally-oriented thinking" subscale correlated with children's school anxiety (p = 0.050). Moreover, we found a correlation between TAS-20 Total score and SAFA-D "Feeling of guilt" subscale (p = 0.014). Our data showed no relationship between TAS-20 and ASQ questionnaires and children's migraine intensity and frequency.

CONCLUSION

Maternal alexithymia and attachment style have no impact on children's migraine severity. However, our results suggest that, although maternal alexithymic traits have no causative roles on children's migraine severity, they show a relationship with patients' attachment style and psychological symptoms, which in turn may impact on migraine severity.

Metacognition and Headache: Which Is the Role in Childhood and Adolescence?

Headache, in particular migraine, is one of the most frequent neurological symptoms in children and adolescents and it affects about 60% of children and adolescents all over the world. Headache can affect several areas of child’s functioning, such as school, physical activities, peer, and family relationship. The global and severe burden of this disease requires a multidisciplinary strategy and an effective treatment addressed all of the patient’s needs and based on cutting-edge scientific research. In recent years, research has focused on cognitive factors specifically in functions called metacognitive processes. Metacognition can be defined as the knowledge, beliefs, and cognitive processes involved in monitoring, control, and assessment of cognition. Metacognition seems to be closely related to the ability of theory of mind, the ability to infer, and reason about the mental states of other people in order to predict and explain own behavior. Recent studies found a relationship between metacognitive skills and anxiety, depression, motivation, academic performance, human social interactions, and stress symptoms. This relationship is very interesting for headache treatment, because these factors are the most commonly reported triggers in this disorder and there is a high comorbidity with anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with headache. So, headache and these comorbidities, in particular anxiety and depression, may have in common persistent and maladaptive patterns of thinking which are related to maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Further research should assess metacognitive processes of children and adolescents with headache in order to increase their ability to control their own cognitive processes and consequently monitor factors which may trigger the attacks.

Experts' opinion about the primary headache diagnostic criteria of the ICHD-3rd edition beta in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

The 2013 International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 (ICHD-3) was published in a beta version to allow the clinicians to confirm the validity of the criteria or to suggest improvements based on field studies. The aim of this work was to review the Primary Headache Disorders Section of ICHD-3 beta data on children and adolescents (age 0-18 years), and to suggest changes, additions, and amendments.

METHODS

Several experts in childhood headache across the world applied different aspects of ICHD-3 beta in their normal clinical practice. Based on their personal experience and the literature available on pediatric headache, they made observations and proposed suggestions for the primary headache disorders section of ICHD-3 beta data on children and adolescents.

RESULTS

Some headache disorders in children have specific features which are different from those seen in adults and which should be acknowledged and considered. Some features in children were found to be age-dependent: clinical characteristics, risks factors and etiologies have a strong bio psycho-social basis in children and adolescents making primary headache disorders in children distinct from those in adults.

CONCLUSIONS

Several recommendations are presented in order to make ICHD-3 more appropriate for use with children.