Early Childhood Stressful Life Events Linked to Increased Eczema Activity
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 5, 2025 -- For children with atopic dermatitis (AD), early childhood stressful life events are associated with an increased risk for disease activity, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Katrina Abuabara, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a longitudinal cohort study of 13,972 children ages 1 to 8.5 years from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to examine the impact of stressful life events throughout early childhood on AD activity and severity.
The researchers found that for each standard deviation increase in stressful life events, there was a small increased risk for concurrent AD activity after adjusting for potential confounders (odds ratio, 1.04), which was higher for moderate-to-severe AD and for a cumulative measure of stressful events across childhood (odds ratios, 1.13 and 1.11, respectively). Common stressful life events such as starting a new school or having a new sibling drove the association more than severe adverse childhood events such as being separated from a parent or being abused.
"These results suggest that parents and providers may anticipate and proactively moisturize or treat to prevent potential AD flares around life events," the authors write. "In addition, multiple stress-reducing modalities have been shown to improve AD symptoms and may be helpful for patients experiencing stressful life events."
One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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