Department of Women and Child Health, Food Allergy Referral Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment, Veneto Region, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy.
Department of Medicine - DIMED, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2017 Aug;28(5):458-463. doi: 10.1111/pai.12732. Epub 2017 Jun 20.
Food allergy is a common immunologic disease that includes potentially fatal reactions. It impacts considerably on patients' social life including close interpersonal relationships. Attachment theory provides a theoretic framework to evaluate the quality of close interpersonal relationships in chronic disorders. Attachment insecurity, mainly characterized by attachment avoidance, has been found in a variety of health conditions, but still needs to be investigated in food allergy. The study aimed to investigate attachment, as attitude to close interpersonal relationships, among food-allergic young patients, compared to healthy controls.
This is a cross-sectional study involving patients suffering from IgE-mediated food allergy sequentially recruited and matched to healthy controls for age and gender. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) was used to assess five factors and two attachment dimensions (Anxiety-Avoidance). Associations with anaphylaxis and adrenaline prescription were explored among patients.
174 participants were assessed (female=45%; mean age=17.51; SD=4.26). Food-allergic patients reported significantly higher levels of Discomfort with Closeness (P<.05), Relationships as Secondary (P<.05) and Attachment Avoidance (P<.0001) compared to controls.
Clinicians should be aware of implications of insecure attachment for health and illness. They should support patients in limiting social impairment finding a balance between safety and psychologic well-being.
食物过敏是一种常见的免疫性疾病，包括潜在致命的反应。它对患者的社交生活产生了重大影响，包括亲密的人际关系。依恋理论为评估慢性疾病中亲密人际关系的质量提供了理论框架。在各种健康状况下都发现了依恋不安全感，主要表现为依恋回避，但在食物过敏中仍需要进一步研究。本研究旨在调查食物过敏的年轻患者与健康对照组相比，对亲密人际关系的依恋态度。
这是一项横断面研究，纳入了连续招募的 IgE 介导的食物过敏患者，并按年龄和性别与健康对照组相匹配。使用依恋风格问卷（ASQ）评估五个因素和两个依恋维度（焦虑回避）。在患者中探讨了与过敏反应和肾上腺素处方的关联。
评估了 174 名参与者（女性=45%；平均年龄=17.51；SD=4.26）。与对照组相比，食物过敏患者报告的亲密关系不适（P<.05）、关系次要（P<.05）和依恋回避（P<.0001）水平显著更高。
临床医生应该意识到不安全依恋对健康和疾病的影响。他们应该支持患者在寻找安全和心理健康之间的平衡，以限制社交障碍。
