The relationship between child and adolescent atopic dermatitis, attachment and the quality of parental life

Abstract

Background: Atopic dermatitis is one of the psychosomatic disorders that have been reported to have profound effect on the development of characteristics and interpersonal relationships. Objective: This study was performed to identify the relationship between childhood and adolescent atopic dermatitis, attachment and the quality of parental life. Methods: Sixty-eight atopic dermatitis patients and thirty nine healthy control subjects were included in our study. Eczema area and severity index (EASI) were examined for evaluating the severity of atopic dermatitis, Revised Adult Attachment Scale for the evaluation of parent-child attachment, and Parents' Index of Quality of Life in Atopic Dermatitis for evaluating the quality of parental life were used in this study. Results: The rate of unstable attachment was higher for the subjects with atopic dermatitis, as compared to that for the healthy controls (χ 2=6.07, p=0.02). The unstable attachment group in the atopic dermatitis group showed more severe AD on the face, upper extremity and lower extremity, and their total EASI score was higher than that for the stable attachment group of the patient group. The score of the quality of parental life for atopic dermatitis was lower than that for the healthy controls (t=7.09, p<0.01). Among the severity of atopic dermatitis and the child-parental attachment, the former more affected the quality of parental life (r=0.798, p<0.0). Conclusion: Although childhood and adolescent atopic dermatitis was related with psychologic factors of the parent-child relationship, the state of atopic dermatitis more directly impacted on the quality of parental life.