Association of temperament type and mother's emotional state with acute respiratory infection in children

Abstract

To explore the correlation of temperament type and mother's emotional state with acute respiratory tract infections in children so as to provide evidence for comprehensive treatment of the infections. A total of 200 children aged between 3 and 6 were enrolled in this study from two kindergartens of Guangzhou and Hengyang. The mothers were invited to complete a questionnaire of the children's general information followed by assessment using children's temperament scale and the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale. The total incidence of acute respiratory infection was significantly higher in children with a hard- to-raise temperament than the easy- to-raise children (P < 0.05); the incidences of acute rhinitis, acute pharyngitis, acute laryngitis and acute bronchitis were all significantly higher in the hard-to-raise children (P < 0.05). A significant positive correlation was identified between the total number of episodes of acute respiratory tract infection in children and their mothers' stress and anxiety levels (P < 0.01). Acute rhinitis and acute tracheitis in the children were both positively correlated with the mothers' stress scores (P < 0.05), while acute pharyngitis and acute laryngitis were positively correlated with the mothers' anxiety scores (P < 0.05), while acute bronchitis was positively correlated with the mothers' stress and anxiety scores (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis with the factors influencing the types of acute respiratory tract infections in children as the independent variables suggested that the easy-to-raise type of temperament was a protective factor against acute rhinitis in children (P < 0.05), while mothers' anxiety was a risk factor of acute laryngitis in children (P < 0.05); the mothers' stress was a risk factor for acute bronchitis in children (P < 0.05). Acute respiratory tract infection in children is closely related to the temperament type of the children and the emotional state of the mothers, which are important therapeutic targets in comprehensive interventions of acute respiratory tract infection in children.