Raised anxiety, lower quality of life in children bullied for food allergy, their parents

Key takeaways:

• More than one-third of parent-child pairs had a report from either party of food allergy-related bullying happening to the child.
• The risk for anxiety disorder was significantly elevated in these pairs.

SAN DIEGO — An experience of food allergy-related bullying negatively impacts both the child with the allergy who faced the bullying and their parent, according to a presentation here.

This study was presented at the 2025 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology/World Allergy Organization Joint Congress.

“There is growing recognition of the unique psychosocial challenges that children with food allergy and their parents face,” Ianthe R.M. Schepel, BMBCh, MPhil, MS, senior resident in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, told Healio.

Schepel, Lisa M. Bartnikas, MD, attending physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues analyzed survey responses from 295 pairs made up of a parent (96.6% mothers) and a child aged 5 to 17 years (median age, 8 years) with IgE-mediated food allergy to uncover how food allergy-related bullying impacts child and parental psychosocial functioning.

Researchers captured several measures of psychosocial functioning, including quality of life, anxiety, risk for anxiety disorder and parental self-efficacy, all via age-appropriate validated instruments.

More than one-third (36.6%) of the pairs had a report from either the parent or child of food allergy-related bullying happening to the child, according to the abstract.

Between the pairs with vs. without a report of food allergy-related bullying, researchers found significantly elevated food allergy-related anxiety and a heightened risk for anxiety disorder among the parent-child pairs with a bullying experience.

Food allergy-related anxiety was measured via mean Worry About Food Allergy 2.0 (WAFA2) score in parents (WAFA2-P-Child: with bullying, 36.6 vs. without bullying, 21; P < .001; WAFA-P-Teen: 34.4 vs. 21.4; P = .008) and in children (WAFA2-Teen: 30.1 vs. 11.1; P = .01), according to the poster. The score difference in the child measure WAFA2-Child between those with vs. without bullying did not reach significance.

According to the poster, the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) score was used to find the presence of an anxiety disorder in children, with a score of at least 25 signaling the possibility of this outcome (elevated SCARED-P: with bullying, 37.8% vs. without bullying, 15.6%; P < .001). Notably, the difference in the proportion of children with an elevated SCARED-C score between those with vs. without bullying did not reach significance.

In parents, the Screen for Adult Anxiety Related Disorders score was used, with a score of at least 23 signaling the possibility of anxiety disorder (with bullying, 38.9% vs. without bullying, 24.7%; P = .01).

The study also observed that food allergy-related quality of life was significantly reduced in the pairs who did vs. did not experience bullying due to food allergy. In parents, researchers used the Food Allergy Quality of Life-Parental Burden score (mean, 2.9 vs. 1.8; P < .001) and the Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM)-Parent Form score (mean, 4.2 vs. 3.4; P < .001). In children, researchers used the FAIM-Child Form (mean, 4.1 vs. 3.5; P = .01) and the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAQLQ) score, which was broken down by age (mean FAQLQ-Parent Form ages 4-6: 3.3 vs. 1.8; P = .001; mean FAQLQ-Parent Form ages 7-12: 3.6 vs. 2.1; P < .001; mean FAQLQ-Teenager Form: 5.3 vs. 4.2; P = .02). The mean FAQLQ-Child Form score from the group who did report bullying did not significantly differ from the mean score from the group who did not report bullying.

Similarly, parental food allergy-related self-efficacy was significantly decreased in the pairs with a report of food allergy-related bullying when placed against pairs without a report of this bullying (mean Food Allergy Self-Efficacy Scale for Parents score: 78.4 vs. 85.8; P < .001)

“Our study findings underline that families who experience food allergy-related bullying are an especially vulnerable group, with elevated concerns in other food allergy-related psychosocial functioning domains,” Schepel told Healio. “It is our task as allergists and pediatricians to identify these families and help them gain access to dedicated psychological support services.”

Reference:

• Food allergies in children associated with risk of anxieties and bullying. https://www.aaaai.org/about/news/news/2025/food. Published Feb. 10, 2025. Accessed Feb. 10, 2025.