Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents with Severe Asthma and in Their Parents: Preliminary Results after 1 Year of Treatment

Abstract

Emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, are a relevant co-morbidity in severe asthma. Anxiety and depression may also be common in the parents of asthmatic adolescents. The current study evaluated anxious and depressive symptoms in 40 adolescents suffering from severe asthma, and in their parents, before and after 1 year of treatment, tailored according to validated asthma guidelines. We used the HADS (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale) questionnaire for the adolescents, and HADS, STAY (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) questionnaires for their parents. We also considered the grade of asthma severity before and after 1 year of treatment. The current study demonstrated that anxiety and depression are common in both the adolescents suffering from severe asthma and their parents. Anxious and depressive symptoms were correlated between adolescents and their parents. Asthma treatment improved the asthma severity in almost all adolescents. However, the parental anxiety and depression remained unchanged at the end of the asthma treatment. Thus, a psychological assessment could be included in the adolescent severe asthma work-up, involving both the adolescents and their parents.

Keywords: adolescents; anxiety; depression; parents; severe asthma; treatment.

Figure 1

(A) Relationship between HADS-A in the mothers and in the adolescents at baseline; (B) relationship between HADS-A in the fathers and in the adolescents at baseline; (C) relationship between HADS-D in the mothers and in the adolescents at baseline; (D) the relationship between HADS-D in the fathers and in the adolescents at baseline.