Perceived stress in mothers of children with and without islet and coeliac autoimmunity in the ENDIA study

We aimed to assess perceived stress and influencing factors in mothers with children at risk of type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease who did, or did not, develop islet autoantibodies (IA) or coeliac autoantibodies (CA) by 4 years of age.

Maternal perceived stress was assessed postpartum and when their child was approximately 4 years of age using the Perceived Stress Scale (range 1–56) in mothers followed prospectively in the multicentre Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) pregnancy–birth cohort. Data were analysed using linear mixed models.

In total, 818 mothers were included (642 children had no detected IA or CA [Ab negative], 97 had IA detected [IA positive] and 79 had CA detected [CA positive]). The development of IA or CA in young children did not add significantly to the perceived stress of their mothers at a median of 1.8 [IQR 0.8–2.5] and 1.6 [IQR 0.9–2.3] years later, respectively (Ab negative, adjusted predicted mean score 23.8 [95% CI 22.7, 24.9]; IA positive, 22.8 [21.0, 24.6]; CA positive, 25.2 [23.3, 27.2]). Maternal type 1 diabetes did not alter this result. On exploratory predictor analysis a higher perceived stress score at 4 years was associated with a history of mental health illness (β=4.66 [95% CI 3.30, 6.02]) and mental health medication use (β=2.71 [0.64, 4.78]), independent of child autoantibody status or maternal type 1 diabetes status.

Detection of IA or CA in their child did not increase ongoing maternal perceived stress after 1–2 years in a cohort that received consistent support and education. History of mental health illness and mental health medication use were associated with increased perceived stress in mothers regardless of their child’s autoantibody status.

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