TOPLINE

Childhood abuse was associated with increased odds of past-year and lifetime migraine in men but not in women, with depression partially mediating the link, a prospective study suggested.

METHODOLOGY

• This longitudinal cohort study conducted in upstate New York examined the association between childhood maltreatment (abuse or neglect) and the occurrence of migraine in adulthood.
• In wave one (W1) of the study (1986-2009), 800 children (mean age, 9.1 years) were recruited from two groups: children who had previously experienced Child Protective Services (CPS)-recorded maltreatment and children with no CPS record of maltreatment who were from families that received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
• Wave two (W2) of the study (2018-2024) included 305 adults (mean age, 31; 51.1% women; 59.4% Black) from W1 who self-reported childhood maltreatment that occurred between their W1 assessment and age 18 years, had a diagnosis of migraine in the past year or in their lifetime, and provided data on their age at first diagnosis and history of depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
• An exploratory analysis assessed whether psychiatric disorders mediated the association between childhood abuse and adult migraine and whether these mediation effects differed by sex.

TAKEAWAY

• In W2, 34.1% of participants had experienced at least one incidence of child abuse, 21.1% reported past-year migraine, and 26.6% reported lifetime migraine, with a mean age at first diagnosis of 19.3 years.
• Chronicity of childhood abuse was associated with higher odds of past-year migraine (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.77; P = .02) and lifetime migraine (aOR, 1.55; P = .037) in men but not in women.
• Sex moderated the association between chronicity of childhood abuse and the prevalence of past-year migraine (aOR, 2.46; P = .009) and lifetime migraine (aOR, 2.32; P = .009).
• Among men, childhood abuse was significantly associated with past-year depression (P = .008), and past-year depression was significantly associated with past-year migraine (P = .011); however, this association was not seen among women.

IN PRACTICE

“Given the significant public health burden of migraine, uncovering not only who is at increased risk but in what context and why will be pivotal to developing evidence-based treatments and data-driven health policy strategies to ultimately reduce pain and enhance well-being,” the investigators of the study wrote.

SOURCE

The study was led by Elizabeth D. Handley, PhD, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. It was published online on June 18 in Headache.

LIMITATIONS

Depression, anxiety, and PTSD were assessed at the same time as past-year migraine. The small sample size limited the ability to examine specific characteristics of child abuse, such as subtype and severity. Chronicity of childhood abuse was determined by summing developmental periods, which may have masked nonlinear relationships. The severity, frequency, and duration of migraine were not assessed, and the study relied on a self-reported history of migraine rather than a clinician diagnosis. The use of CPS records may have limited the results’ generalizability to adults with a history of CPS involvement. Finally, the inflammatory and neurobiological pathways linking childhood abuse to adult migraine were not examined.

DISCLOSURES

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The investigators reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.