Psychological predictors of headache remission in children and adolescents

Figures & data

Figure 1 Sample selection.

Table 1 Prevalence and remission rates depending on sex and headache type (%)

	Total	Sex		Headache type
		Male	Female	TTH	MIG	NCH
Prevalence	19.75	15.51	23.84	7.77	4.19	7.84
Remission rate	22.85	31.77	17.26	21.24	13.08	29.65

Abbreviations: TTH, tension type headache; MIG, migraine; NCH, non-categorizable headache.

Table 2 Psychological predictors: descriptive statistics

Predictors	N	M#	SD	Min–Max
NH coping style	502	2.39	0.77	1.00–4.80
INT symptoms	495	1.87	0.65	1.00–4.25
EXT symptoms	492	1.84	0.56	1.00–3.88
AS	505	1.53	0.58	1.00–4.50
SSA	505	2.02	0.66	1.00–5.00

Note:

# Data are mean item score of the specific variable, 5-point rating scales.

Abbreviations: NH, negative habitual; INT, internalizing; EXT, externalizing; AS, anxiety sensitivity; SSA, somatosensory amplification; M, mean; SD, standard deviation; Min, minimum; Max, maximum.

Table 3 Logistic regression model with the included predictors (P≤0.05)

Predictors	B (SD)	P-value	Odds ratio (95% CI)
Constant	−1.11 (0.20)
Sex (ref: female)	0.78 (0.23)	0.001	2.18 (1.38–3.42)
TTH (ref: other headache)	−0.60 (0.25)	0.018	0.55 (0.34–0.90)
MIG (ref: other headache)	−0.96 (0.34)	0.004	0.38 (0.20–0.74)
NH coping style	−0.24 (0.12)	0.039	0.78 (0.62–0.99)
Total model	χ^2(6)=30.00, P<0.001; R^2=0.09 (Nagelkerke)

Note: Multiple logistic regression analysis with “remission” as dependent variable using a stepwise (backward) procedure with two blocks was performed.

Abbreviations: TTH, tension type headache; MIG, migraine; NH, negative habitual; ref, reference category; SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Intercorrelations of all predictors and control variables

Predictors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1. Sex	–	0.10*	0.05	−0.05	0.23**	0.28**	−0.14**	0.17**	0.12**
2. Age		–	0.01	0.06	0.25**	0.25**	0.20**	0.03	0.06
3. Headache type			–	−0.05	0.14**	0.13**	0.02	0.14**	0.16**
4. Parental headache				–	0.05	0.03	0.03	0.06	0.01
5. NH coping style					–	0.68**	0.21**	0.29**	0.40**
6. INT						–	0.23**	0.38**	0.40**
7. EXT							–	0.02	0.09*
8. AS								–	0.44**
9. SSA									–

Note:

* P≤0.05,

** P≤0.01.

Abbreviations: NH, negative habitual; INT, internalizing; EXT, externalizing; AS, anxiety sensitivity; SSA, somatosensory amplification.