Family interaction, anxious and depressive symptomatology as predictors for primary chronic headache

Abstract

Due to their incidence, their disabling nature and the deterioration they cause on the individual’s quality of life,primary headaches have become a public health problem. Estimates point out that more than half of allindividuals have endured this type of headache sometime during their lives. As research has not yet producedcertainty regarding the mechanisms causing these headaches very diverse proposals on their etiology persist.The purpose of the present study was to explore the contribution of several factors including lifestyles, familyinteraction as well as anxiety and depressive symptomatology, on the development and maintenance ofprimary headaches. The study examined the results of 201 participants with neurologist-confirmeddiganostic of primary tensional, chronic tensional, migraine and mixed headaches from two large publichospitals. Results. Structural equation modeling revealed good fit (X2=7.344; DF: 7; p=394) including directeffects between headache and anxious (.308) and depressive (.422) symptomatology, as well as past familyviolence with frequent punishment on a stressful childhood (.303 and .243 respectively). Conclusion. Resultsshow that negative family interaction including direct exposure to family conflict, anxiety and depressionsymptoms do contribute to the development of primary headaches.