Family-Related Stress in Euthyroid Adolescents with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Elevated Levels of Anti-Thyroid Antibodies

Stress response is a complex, adaptive reaction to various endogenous or exogenous stimuli. Psychological stress (PS) may trigger inflammation, disrupt hormone balance and affect the immune and other body systems. PS is discussed in the literature when considering autoimmunity as a possible external factor influencing its development. Furthermore, chronic PS, including family-related stress (FRS), can contribute to autoimmune thyroid diseases like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). The present research was conducted as a randomized study to explore the response to and coping with FRS in 88 euthyroid adolescents with HT and elevated levels of anti-thyroid antibodies (ATA) (case group) compared to 88 healthy adolescents (control group), as well as to present, discuss and compare the obtained results with the literature published so far. The multidimensional Response to Stress Questionnaire for children and adolescents was used to examine the level of FRS. We found that the case group’s exposure to FRS was lower than the control group’s, but no statistically significant difference was established. According to the results of our study, the mutual connection between exposure to FRS and coping with FRS in adolescents with HT and elevated levels of ATA cannot be confirmed.