(918): Sex differences in anxiety sensitivity in children with chronic pain and healthy children

Abstract

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) or the specific tendency to fear symptoms of anxious arousal has been implicated in the experience of chronic pain. Adult women report elevated AS and are at higher risk for developing clinical pain compared to adult men yet, there is a paucity of data on sex differences in AS among children. Specifically, extant research has not examined the extent to which sex differences in AS are evident in children with and without chronic pain. This study examined sex differences in global AS and AS dimensions (physical concerns, social concerns, and psychological concerns) in 136 children with chronic pain (70.6% girls; mean age = 14.2 + 2.4) and a comparison group of 202 healthy children (52% girls; mean age = 13.6 + 2.6). Global AS scores were compared using a 2 [group (healthy versus chronic pain)] × 2 [sex (girls versus boys)] ANCOVA, controlling for child age and ethnicity (Caucasian versus non-Caucasian). Sex differences across the three AS dimensions, were examined using a 2 [group (healthy versus chronic pain)] × 2 [sex (girls versus boys)] MANCOVA, controlling for child age and ethnicity. Girls in both the chronic pain and healthy groups reported elevated global AS, AS physical concerns and AS psychological concerns relative to their male counterparts. However, there were no overall differences in AS between the healthy and chronic pain groups, nor were there any significant group by sex interaction effects. These findings revealed heightened general fears of anxious arousal as well as elevated specific fears of the negative physical and psychological consequences of such arousal in girls with chronic pain as well as healthy girls relative to their male counterparts. AS appears to demonstrate female-specific associations in children irrespective of their experience with chronic pain.