[Are mothers of children with neurodermatitis psychologically conspicuous? Critique and replication of a study of the "psychosomatic aspects of the parent-child relationship in pediatric atopic eczema"].

A study concerning some "psychosomatic aspects of the parent-child relationship and atopic eczema in childhood" was published in this journal in 1986 [8]. The authors concluded that mothers of children suffering from atopic eczema "were shown to be less 'spontaneous', more 'under control' and less 'emotional' than the normal population." They showed "characteristic features indicating difficulties in emotional relationships with their children." These conclusions were based on the answers of 14 mothers to a popular German personality questionnaire (Freiburger Persönlichkeitsinventar, FPI). We analyzed the investigation cited, judged it to be unsatisfactory and attempted to duplicate the study. Two parallel samples of mothers with healthy and ill children (n = 50 and n = 47) were tested with the same questionnaire. The previous results could not be verified. Therefore, we reject the interpretation that mothers of children suffering from atopic eczema have unique psychological characteristics.