PSYCHOLOGICAL AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENTS WITH VOCAL CORD DYSFUNCTION

Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a respiratory disorder often confused with asthma. Although previous case reports have implicated family and /or individual psychopathology in the etiology of this condition, this is the first paper to present prospective, case-control empirical dat a on a group of pediatric patients with VCD. A case-control methodolog y was employed to examine patients in terms of both family and individ ual functioning. Results indicate that patients with VCD were not diff erent from asthmatic controls on measures of family functioning. Howev er, they did experience significantly higher levels of anxiety and rec eived a higher number of anxiety-related diagnoses such as separation anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder on a structured psychiatric i nterview. The nature of the relation between VCD and psychological sym ptoms in children is discussed. Etiologic and treatment issues are exa mined in the context of the findings.