Kids With Frequent Headaches Are More Likely to Have Behavioral Problems
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
If you’re a parent trying to trying to understand why your child may have behavioral problems, read on.
If you’re a parent with a child suffering from migraine or frequent tension-type headaches or TTH (the most common type of headache), read on.
Studies have suggested that behavioral issues such as anxiety, depression and attention issues are caused by external factors – ones that you wouldn’t normally think would have such an effect on your child’s behavior.
I even wrote about a study that linked air pollutants to child behavior problems. (You can read more on that by clicking here.)
Note that these are worth mentioning for the sake of understanding why children behave in such a way – not to put blame on anything or anyone.
Okay, shall we get on with it?
A recent study has found that children who suffer from migraine or frequent TTH exhibit behavioral problems. But that’s not all: More recurrent headaches translate to increased chances of developing such problems.
The study involved a little over 1,800 children aged 5 to 11, and used headache surveys as well as a Child Behavior Checklist, to find out the correlation of emotional symptoms with migraine and TTH.
How is this important?
There is always an explanation for why children behave in a certain way. Therefore, it becomes important to find out the reason behind behaviors so you know how to help them.
For example, if your child is inattentive, before you draw conclusions (such as him being bored), it’s best to dig deeper into the issue to find out what’s really going on. This way, it will be easier for you to help your child change the behavior.
So, what do you think of the study? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
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