Anxiety and depression in pediatric patients with vitiligo and alopecia areata and their parents: A cross‐sectional controlled study

Abstract

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) and vitiligo are associated with various psychiatric comorbidities, and the care of a child with AA or vitiligo may be associated with higher anxiety and depression than healthy children. Aims:We aimed to identify psychiatric findings in children and adolescent groups with AA and vitiligo and to evaluate the levels of anxiety and depression in their parents.Methods: This study included 31 patients with AA and 29 patients with vitiligo, aged seven to 17 years, and their parents. Age-and gender-matched 30 controls and their parents were included. The patients and controls completed the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scales-Child version (RCADS-C), and their parents completed the parent version (RCADS-P). The parents also completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). In addition, the stressful event history of all cases was noted.Results: Stressful event history was higher in the vitiligo group compared to the AA group, and it was higher in the AA and vitiligo groups compared to the control group. Separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, social phobia, and major depressive disorder (MDD) scores were higher in the AA group than controls according to the RCADS-C. According to the RCADS-P, panic disorder (PD), MDD, and total anxiety scores were higher in the AA group. Only the PD and MDD scores were higher in the vitiligo group than those of the controls based on the RCADS-P. Lastly, no significant difference was observed between the three groups concerning the parents' BAI and BDI scores.Conclusions: Stressful events were more common in pediatric patients with vitiligo than those with AA. Anxiety symptoms were more prevalent in patients with AA than those with vitiligo. K E Y W O R D S alopecia, psychological aspects, quality of life, vitiligo | 2233 Savaş ERDOĞaN Et al.How to cite this article: Erdoğan SS, Gür TF, Doğan B. Anxiety and depression in pediatric patients with vitiligo and alopecia areata and their parents: A cross-sectional controlled study. J

Psychosocial Effects of Vitiligo: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Among QoL instruments assessing general health, total and/or component scores were most frequently reported for the adult and child versions of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI, 53 studies) [ 4 , 13 , 14 , 18 , 19 , 22 , 25 , 33 , 35 – 38 , 45 , 64 , 65 , 67 – 70 , 74 , 77 , 81 – 83 , 87 , 89 , 90 , 92 , 93 , 96 , 99 , 100 , 102 , 104 , 112 , 115 , 119 , 120 , 122 , 123 , 140 , 143 , 144 , 146 , 148 , 151 , 156 , 161 , 162 , 164 – 166 , 168 ], Children’s DLQI (seven studies) [ 24 , 67 , 73 , 101 , 103 , 110 , 152 ], 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36, eight studies) [ 9 , 82 , 83 , 105 – 107 , 161 , 162 ], General Health Questionnaire (eight studies) [ 14 , 30 , 65 , 93 ...…”

“…The QoL and/or psychosocial burden of vitiligo was most frequently compared with psoriasis (26 articles) [ 4 , 9 , 27 , 58 , 60 , 76 , 83 , 84 , 87 , 92 , 110 , 111 , 113 , 118 , 123 , 130 , 134 , 136 , 137 , 150 , 154 , 159 , 162 , 173 , 174 ], alopecia areata (13 articles) [ 14 , 24 , 58 , 60 , 75 , 76 , 83 , 109 , 118 , 154 , 159 , 173 , 174 ], acne (11 articles) [ 14 , 58 , 76 , 117 , 118 , 137 , 140 , 154 , 159 , 174 , 175 ], atopic dermatitis (ten articles) [ 27 , 58 , 73 , 76 , 110 , 111 , 119 , 154 , 173 , 174 ], and urticaria (nine articles) [ 27 , 58 , 76 , 137 , 154 , 155 ,…”

“…Caregiver (e.g., parents, sibling, spouse) burden and associated factors were discussed in ten articles [ 20 , 24 , 53 , 64 , 86 , 103 , 111 , 121 , 139 , 172 ], although only four provided prevalence rates [ 64 , 86 , 103 , 111 ] for aspects of psychosocial burden. Overall QoL among caregivers was impaired, with depression, anxiety, emotional distress, and impaired social life commonly mentioned.…”

“…Children's DLQI (seven studies) [24,67,73,101,103,110,152], 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36, eight studies) [9, 82, 83, 105-107, 161, 162], General Health Questionnaire (eight studies) [14,30,65,93,95,113,114,124], and Skindex-29 (eight studies) [29,71,98,106,107,162,174,175].…”

“…Five studies reported that depression [30,84,85,102,164] and/or anxiety [84,164] scores measured by Beck Inventory scales were not significantly different in patients with vitiligo vs controls. The QoL and/or psychosocial burden of vitiligo was most frequently compared with psoriasis (26 articles) [4,9,27,58,60,76,83,84,87,92,110,111,113,118,123,130,134,136,137,150,154,159,162,173,174], alopecia areata (13 articles) [14,24,58,60,75,76,83,109,118,154,159,173,174], acne (11 articles) [14,58,76,…”