Parental attitude of mothers, iron deficiency anemia, and breath-holding spells.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of family structure and the attitude of mothers on the development of breath-holding spells. The data of the Sociodemographic and Parental Attitude Research Instruments of 30 mothers of children with breath-holding spells and of 30 mothers of healthy children were compared. The subjects were also evaluated for iron deficiency anemia and by age-related developmental test. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the results of the Sociodemographic and Parental Attitude Research Instruments. Iron deficiency anemia was found to be significantly higher in the group of mothers of children with breath-holding spells compared with the control group. This study suggests that iron deficiency anemia rather than behavioral or psychosocial problems of mothers plays a role in the development of breath-holding spells.