Longitudinal study shows that depression in childhood is associated with a worse evolution of headaches in adolescence

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the course of headache diagnosis, headache frequency, anxiety, comorbid depressive symptoms and school absenteeism in adolescents with migraine and tension-type headaches five years after baseline.

Methods: We followed a group of 122 children with a mean age of 10.1 (±1.3) years, with headache from a paediatric migraine centre in Paris who had taken part in a previous study from September 2007 to June 2008. This five-year longitudinal study took place in January to June 2012. The measures that were used included demographic variables, headache diagnosis, headache data and a psychological assessment.

Results: At the five-year point, about 22% of the children had become headache free, 34% had little to no disability, and 36% had a changed diagnosis. Moreover, a longer history of headache at baseline was associated with a worse evolution of headache at follow-up. Lastly, high depression scores, but not anxiety, were a predictor of more headache disability at follow-up.

Conclusion: High depression scores in childhood were a risk factor that was associated with persistence and worsening of headaches in adolescence. This suggests that mental health assessments should be carried out in paediatric headache pain clinics.

Keywords: Anxiety; Children and adolescents; Depression; Headaches and migraines; Longitudinal study.