Agreement of parents and children on characteristics of pediatric headache, other pains, somatic symptoms, and depressive symptoms in an epidemiologic study.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to assess the concordance between parent and child report regarding different domains of pediatric health, headache in particular. In addition, the influence of potential moderator variables on the agreement between parents and children was examined. METHODOLOGY: In an epidemiologic study on a randomly drawn sample of households with at least 1 child in the family between 7 and 14 years of age (community registries), various pediatric health disturbances (headache, other pains, somatic symptoms, and depression/anxiety) were assessed via both child (from the age of 9 y on) and parent report (n=3461). RESULTS: A relatively high parent-child agreement (sigmaM=0.61) was found regarding the variable headache frequency, whereas consensus regarding other pains was, for the most part, markedly lower. The lowest agreement (sigmaM=0.27) was found for depression/anxiety symptoms. A moderator analysis (with age, sex, and parental headache) between child and parent failed to reveal significant differences regarding the degree of agreement between the 2 data sources. Children reported more frequent and more severe symptoms in all health domains. CONCLUSION: The examined potential moderator variables did not elucidate processes underlying the differences in child and parent agreement. There is no convincing evidence that the children's appraisal is less valid than their parents'. In summary, parents' reports cannot be viewed as a substitute for children's reports in pediatric pain and health assessment. Instead, each perspective represents a unique subjective reality and as such, both are of importance for research on pediatric pain and other health variables.

Biopsychosocial correlates of headache: what predicts pediatric headache occurrence?

OBJECTIVE: The study aims at identifying biopsychosocial risk factors for headache in children and adolescents aged 9 to 14. METHODS: An epidemiological survey was conducted in a randomly drawn population sample of families with children in the above age group. Questionnaires were mailed to parents and children (n=6400), on whose data this report is based. The objective of the study was to establish a profile of risk factors regarding the occurrence of headache. Headache, as the criterion variable, was ranked according to its frequency in the last 6 months (no, rare, monthly, weekly). Independent variables came from 6 domains: health, socioeconomic, family, school, leisure/peers, and psychological factors. Data analysis was conducted via multinomial regression analyses in a 4-step strategy: (1) analysis of age and sex as control variables; (2) analysis of single variables from each of the 6 domains (controlled for age and sex); (3) domain analyses; and (4) comprehensive analysis including all significant variables from the domain analyses. RESULTS: Age and sex explained a small but significant proportion of the variance in headache frequency (3.5%). All health variables, several socioeconomic, and most family- and school-related as well as the psychological variables demonstrated a significant association with the criterion in the single variable models. However, only a few of the variables related to leisure/peer activities reached significance. The domain model comprising health variables explained 27% of the variance, achieving the best model fit, followed by the psychological model with 13%. CONCLUSIONS: The comprehensive model was able to explain one third of the total variance in headache occurrence. Contrary to our hypothesis, the addition of psychosocial variables to health-related predictors did not markedly improve model fit.

Maintenance of internet-based prevention: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Excessive weight or shape concerns and dieting are among the most important and well-established risk factors for the development of symptoms of disordered eating or full-syndrome eating disorders. Prevention programs should therefore target these factors in order to reduce the likelihood of developing an eating disorder. The aims of this study were to determine the short-term and maintenance effects of an internet-based prevention program for eating disorders. METHOD: One hundred female students at two German universities were randomly assigned to either an 8-week intervention or a waiting-list control condition and assessed at preintervention, postintervention, and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the intervention produced significant and sustained effects for high-risk women. CONCLUSION: Internet-based prevention is effective and can be successfully adapted to a different culture.