Family healthcare patterns as a proxy for transgenerational transmission of functional somatic symptoms in early childhood – A longitudinal cohort study

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  • Elske Hogendoorn
  • Lina Münker
  • Martin Køster Rimvall
  • Lisbeth Frostholm
  • Anders Helles Carlsen
  • Jeppesen, Pia
  • Judith G. M. Rosmalen
  • Charlotte Ulrikka Rask

Objective: Functional somatic symptoms (FSS) accumulate within families. Exposure to family patterns of high healthcare use may induce maladaptive symptom coping and thereby potentially contribute to the transgenerational transmission of FSS. This study aimed to uncover associations between parental and child healthcare use during the child's first years of life (age 0–4) and childhood FSS at age 5–7. Methods: We utilized data from the Copenhagen Child Cohort (CCC2000), a population-based birth cohort. Parent-reported FSS of their 5–7-year-old children were linked to Danish national registry data on parental and child healthcare use (including general practitioner [GP] consultations and hospital contacts) during child age 0–4 years. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate longitudinal associations between family healthcare use and child FSS. Results: We found an association between prior parental healthcare use and child FSS at age 5–7 (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.01–1.04]). Key sensitivity analyses specifically focusing on GP consultations, revealed modest but statistically significant associations between parental (OR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.02–1.05]) and child (OR = 1.18, 95% CI [1.04–1.34]) GP consultations and impairing FSS at age 5–7. Conclusion: Family healthcare use, especially within the general practice, may play a role in the transgenerational transmission of FSS. Early-stage FSS identification and care might be improved through training aimed at GPs. Future research may identify vulnerable families at whom parent-focused interventions for symptom-coping could be targeted. This could potentially contribute to the prevention of transgenerational transmission of FSS.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111805
JournalJournal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume184
Number of pages8
ISSN0022-3999
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors

    Research areas

  • Early childhood, Functional somatic symptoms, Healthcare use, Transgenerational transmission

ID: 397907030