Parenting Stress and Emotional/Behavioral Problems in Adolescents with Primary Headache

Primary headache is a frequent and disabling disorder, common among children and adolescents, and it is a painful syndrome often accompanied by functional impairment and associated with emotional and behavior problems. The aim of this study was to investigate parenting stress and emotional/behavioral problems in adolescents affected by primary headache compared with healthy adolescents. The study population consisted of 35 adolescents and a control group of 23 healthy subjects. The assessment included the administration of clinical standardized scales such as Parent Stress Index-Short Form, Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment Score Questionnaire, and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Headache group and control group did not differ in terms of parenting stress ( = 0.29). On the contrary, headache group showed more internalizing problems ( = 0.023), affective problems ( = 0.01), anxious ( = 0.001), and somatic complaints (