Influence of quality of life and stress coping behaviour on headaches in adolescent male students: an explorative study

Quality of life (QL) and stress coping behaviour were evaluated in 194 adolescent male students, and related to their headache complaints. Negative correlations were found between headache duration and intensity versus satisfaction with autonomy, and between headache intensity versus satisfaction with the home situation. Both headache duration and intensity were found to correlate positively with depressive stress coping behaviour. Further, positive correlations were found between palliative and avoidant stress coping strategies versus headache intensity. Our findings suggest that active rather than passive stress coping strategies are effective in reducing headache intensity. In addition, this study indicates the relevance of focussing future research into headaches in adolescents on the home situation.