Psychological Stress and the Onset of IDDM in Children: A case-control study
- Gunilla M Thernlund, MD,
- Gisela Dahlquist, MD,
- Kjell Hansson, PHD,
- Sten A Ivarsson, MD,
- Johnny Ludvigsson, MD,
- Sture Sjöblad, MD and
- Bruno Hägglöf, MD
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Malmö, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- University of Lund; the Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Public Health, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- University of Umeå; the Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- University Hospital of Linköping; and the Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Lund Sweden
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Gunilla Thernlund, MD, Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, Box 638, 220 09 Lund, Sweden.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to determine whether psychosocial stress during different life periods could be a risk factor in the etiology/pathogenesis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in children.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a population-based sample of 67 case patients 0–14 years of age and 61 matched healthy control subjects, life events during the entire lifespan before the onset of IDDM were recorded as well as measures of child behavior before onset, social support, and family function.
RESULTS Negative life events occurring during the first 2 years of life, life events with difficult adaptation, child behavioral deviances, and a more chaotic family function were more common in the case group. A stepwise logistic regression indicated that negative life events in the first 2 years increased the risk of IDDM and that premorbid child behavior as well as dysfunctional hierarchical family pattern affect the risk.
CONCLUSIONS Stress early in life may increase the risk for IDDM, presumably by affecting the autoimmune process. To confirm these results, it is necessary to make a truly prospective study.
- Received October 17, 1994.
- Revision received June 29, 1995.
- Accepted June 29, 1995.
- Copyright © 1995 by the American Diabetes Association
