Stressed-out moms likely to worsen child’s asthma

LONDON - Mums who are often angry or irritated and those who suppress their emotional expressions can worsen the severity of their children’s asthma symptoms, especially when the children are younger.

Researchers studied 223 mothers for a year, investigating how their stress levels, coping styles and parenting styles were associated with their children’s disease status.

Jun Nagano from the Kyushu University Institute of Health Science, Fukuoka, Japan, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study, reports the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine.

Mothers’ tendencies to reject, dominate, overprotect and indulge their children were assessed by questionnaire as were their specific kinds of chronic stress and coping styles.

Over-interference stemming from excessive protectiveness was found to be associated with worsening asthma of older children (over seven years).

For those under seven, a mother’s chronic irritation and anger or the tendency to suppress her emotional expressions was predictive of a more severe disease in the subsequent years.

According to Nagano: “A mother’s stress (or wellbeing) may be verbally or non-verbally conveyed to her child and affect the child’s asthmatic status.”