According to a recent study, offspring of parents with migraines are at a higher risk of developing major mental disorders (MMD). Additionally, maternal migraine affected offspring's MMD risk moreso than paternal migraine, according to the study authors.
Published in the Annals of General Psychiatry, researchers aimed to assess the risk of developing disorders including schizophrenia, depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring of parents with migraine.
Utilizing data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, the study included 22,747 offspring of parents with migraine and a control group of 227,470 offspring of parents without migraine, matched for demographic characteristics and parental mental disorders. The study enrolled individuals born between 1980 and 2010 with a parent diagnosed with migraine at least twice by specialists. A control cohort—matched 1:10 by age, sex, birth date, residence, and family income—was randomly identified. From 2001 to 2011, the occurrence of MMDs was recorded. Diagnoses were confirmed twice by psychiatrists. Parental mental disorders and urbanization levels were also assessed.
Researchers used the F test for continuous variables and Pearson’s χ2 test for nominal variables to compare groups. Cox regression analyses, adjusted for demographics and parental mental disorders, calculated hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for MMDs in offspring of parents with migraines versus those without. Subanalyses stratified by parent gender further clarified risks. A 2-tailed P-value < 0.05 was defined as significant.
Analysis indicated that parental migraine was significantly associated with an increased risk of ADHD (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.25-1.50), bipolar disorder (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.06-1.71), and depressive disorder (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.47) in offspring compared to controls. Further stratified analyses revealed that maternal migraine specifically was significantly associated with even higher increased risks of ADHD (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.29-1.59), bipolar disorder (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.07-1.87), and depressive disorder (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.31-1.63). However, paternal migraine was not significantly associated with any increased risk of these disorders compared to the control group.
Researchers noted that migraine and other headaches account for about 3% of all emergency department visits annually in the United States, are the fourth-leading reason for hospital visits, and are associated with multiple burdens that can affect quality of life. “Due to this heavy burden associated with migraine, further research regarding [its] comorbidities may be beneficial to better understand the etiologies,” they stated.
It was also advised for health care providers to be aware of parents with migraine, with the study authors stressing the importance of early intervention and psychoeducation due to genetic susceptibility and “risk of parenting dysfunction”, which may lead to the increased risk of MMD in children of parents with the condition.
Full list of disclosures can be found in the original study.