Do my child's breathing problems increase the risk of a mental disorder?

There has been increasing interest in the relationship between respiratory disease and anxiety and depressive disorders among youth. Studies suggest that early respiratory symptoms are associated with increased rates of mental disorders among youth and that these linkages have been established using both clinical and community-based samples. Children and youth with respiratory symptoms and disease have odds of later mental disorders 2 to 4 times higher than those without. The relationship between respiratory disease and mental disorders among youth holds even after adjustments are made for hypochondria, functional impairment, and cigarette smoking.