Person:

Gauchel, Jessica

Food allergy affects approximately 9 million adults in the Unites States. The only medically approved treatment is avoidance of the allergenic food. Research has found food allergy to be associated with anxiety, depression, and lower quality of life, but has primarily focused on children. Little research has explored these associations in adults, and even less has examined the relationship between coping and food allergy in adults. Attentional coping is associated with ongoing symptom management for asthma, diabetes, and other illness. This study investigated the relationship between attentional coping and food allergy in adults (n=230) by examining the mean differences between adults with food allergy and adults without food allergy on scores for 3 attentional coping subscales: English-language Mainz Coping Inventory (MCI) Vigilance subscale (MCI-V), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) Task scale (CISS-T), and CISS Emotion scale (CISS-E); examining the correlation between years since allergy diagnosis and scores on attentional coping subscales; and examining the correlation between years since first reaction and scores on attentional coping subscales. Exploratory analyses were conducted on 2 avoidant coping subscales: MCI Cognitive Avoidance (MCI-CA) and CISS Avoidance scale (CISS-A). ANOVAs found a significant mean difference in scores on the CISS-A, with adults with food allergy scoring higher than those without. There was a significant sex effect for the MCI-V, CISS-T, and CISS-A. Regression analyses found a significant negative correlation between years since diagnosis and attentional coping scores, and found a positive correlation between years since diagnosis and scores on MCI-CA, with more years since diagnosis predicting higher scores. Findings support the need for additional research on food allergy and coping in adults.