Childhood Allergies: The Role of Maternal Depression and Anxiety, and Family Strain.

Maternal mental disorder and a negative family emotional climate are a great source of stress for many children, yet their role in the childhood development or expression of asthma and allergies remains poorly understood, particularly beyond the first 1-2 years of life. The current study tested whether childhood allergy onset and symptomatology would be predicted by (1) perinatal and any time exposure to maternal depression or anxiety and (2) current family emotional strain (whole family, mother-child). UK mothers of children aged 2-12 years (N = 328) living with them completed an online survey of measures.