Temperament and behavioral problems of preschool children with headache--a controlled study

The purpose of this study was to compare differences in temperament and emotional and behavioral problems in a community sample of young children who experience headaches to those without such complaints. The whole sample was comprised 75 non-referred, preschool-aged children (3-5 years old), including 22 with headache complaints and 53 without headaches (control group). The children's headache symptoms were assessed with a questionnaire that was given to the mothers. Rothbart's Children's Behavior Questionnaire was used to assess temperament, and the Child Behavior Checklist 1 ½-5 was used to assess emotional and behavioral problems. Compared with the control group, children with headache complaints showed more discomfort, which is the amount of negative affect induced by the sensory qualities of stimulation, including intensity, rate, or complexity of light, movement, sound, texture, or a combination of these modes of stimuli. These children also had higher scores for externalizing and internalizing emotional and behavioral problems compared to children without headaches. These findings show that the preschool-aged children with headaches presented more emotional and behavioral problems than the control group.