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Headache is a common disorder affecting a growing number of children and adolescents.
In migraine
patients, alexithymia is a significant predictor of self-reported
psychopathological symptoms. The clinical information for a preventive,
targeted and efficacious treatment program can be provided via the knowledge of
relationship between somatic symptoms with examples being primary headaches,
alexithymia and psychological problems.
Headache is a
common disorder affecting a growing number of children and adolescents. In
recent years, there has been an increase in scientific interest in exploring
the relationship between migraine and emotional regulation, and in particular,
the impact of emotional dysregulation on mental and physical health. The
present study aims to explore the relationship between migraine and alexithymia
among adolescents and their mothers as well as the impact of this association
on mental health. An additional aim is to verify whether alexithymia may be a
predictor of psychopathological symptoms in adolescents and mothers with
migraines.
A total of 212
subjects were involved in this study. The sample was divided into (a)
Experimental Group (EG) consisting of 106 subjects (53 adolescents and 53
mothers) with a diagnosis of migraine according to International Classification
of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) and (b) Control Group (CG) including 106
subjects (53 adolescents and 53 mothers) without a diagnosis of migraine. All
participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale to assess alexithymia and
the Symptom Checklist-90-R to assess psychopathological symptoms.
Higher rates of
alexithymia were found in the adolescents and mothers of the EG in comparison
to the adolescents and mothers of the CG. Furthermore, adolescents and mothers
experiencing both migraine and alexithymia, demonstrated a higher risk of
psychopathology.
Findings from
this study provide evidence that the co-occurrence of migraine and alexithymia
increases the risk of psychopathology for both adolescents and their mothers.
Headache Pain 2016;17:39
Alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms in adolescent outpatients and mothers suffering from migraines: a case control study
Rita Cerutti et al.
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