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Peter A. Wyman, PhD; Jan Moynihan, PhD; Shirley Eberly, MS; Christopher Cox, PhD; Wendi Cross, PhD; Xia Jin, MD, PhD; Mary T. Caserta, MD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(3):228-234.

Objective  To examine prospective associations between chronic stress in the parent-child and family systems and subsequent rates of illnesses and the activity of natural killer (NK) cells in children.

Design  Prospective cohort study.

Setting  The Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong, Rochester, NY, from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2003.

Participants  One hundred sixty-nine socioeconomically and racially diverse children (aged 5-10 years) and their parents. Parents completed measures of their psychiatric symptoms and stress in the family every 6 months. Children's blood samples were obtained for NK cytotoxicity assays every 6 months.

Main Outcome Measures  Parent-reported total child illnesses and febrile illnesses and results of NK cell cytotoxicity assays. We estimated adjusted illness rate ratios and adjusted mean differences in NK activity.

Results  Elevated parental psychiatric symptoms occurring with family stressors were associated with more total illnesses (rate ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.22) and febrile illnesses (rate ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.13-1.64) in children. Natural killer cell function was enhanced in children whose parents reported more chronic stress (estimate, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.05-0.26). Natural killer cell function was not associated with short-term changes in stress. Stress-illness relationships were not associated with stress-related alterations in NK cell function.

Conclusions  Chronic family stress was associated with increased illnesses in children. Unlike older adults, children living with elevated chronic stress had enhanced rather than decreased NK cytotoxicity, suggesting chronic stress may have different effects on the developing immune system. Impaired parental functioning may be a mechanism linking family stress with adverse effects on children's health.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Wyman, Moynihan, and Cross), Biostatistics (Ms Eberly), Pediatrics (Drs Cross and Caserta), Medicine (Dr Jin), and Microbiology and Immunology (Dr Jin), University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY; and Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md (Dr Cox).

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