Headache in children: Psychopathology, well-being and quality of life

The project focuses on investigating psychopathology, well-being and quality of life in children with headache.

In the first phase, a systematic review on psychopathology in children with tension type headache (TTH) is conducted, similarly to a previous systematic review on psychopathology in children with migraine.

We expect to find very little psychopathological symptoms in children with TTH, similarly as what was shown for children with migraines, and suspect that psychopathological symptoms are related to severity and frequency of headaches.

Notably, it is well documented that adults with chronic headache or migraines have psychiatric co-morbidity, especially depression and anxiety symptoms. In the second phase we will therefore investigate, in a longitudinal design, the predictors for development of psychopathology and changes in psychological well-being and quality of life from childhood into early adulthood.

The participants will be recruited from outpatient paediatric departments of one or more general hospitals in Sweden.