Abstract
There has been limited empirical examination of how parent variables such as anxiety and solicitousness collectively impact child pain response. We sought to examine the relationships among maternal anxiety, solicitous parenting, and children’s laboratory anxiety and pain intensity in children with chronic pain. Participants included 80 children and adolescents (ages 8–18) with chronic pain and their mothers. Children completed questionnaires and lab pain tasks measuring their parents’ solicitous parenting, pressure, cold and heat pain anticipatory anxiety and pain intensity. Using bootstrapping analysis, maternal anxiety predicted child anticipatory anxiety and pain intensity in girls with chronic pain, which was mediated by the child’s report of parental solicitousness. For boys with chronic pain, maternal anxiety predicted boys’ anticipatory anxiety and pain intensity, with no support for mediation. This study adds to the growing literature demonstrating the impact of maternal anxiety on children’s pain. The study highlights the importance of considering parents in treatment designed to reduce children’s pain.
Highlights
Maternal psychological symptoms and behaviors relate to children’s pain and anxiety
The only significant group difference to emerge was for child age; girls with chronic pain were significantly older than boys
This study study sought sought to to investigate investigate the the relationship relationship between between maternal maternal anxiety anxiety and and children’s children’s laboratory anticipatory anxiety and pain intensity in boys versus girls with chronic pain, to laboratory anticipatory anxiety and pain intensity in boys versus girls with chronic pain, andand to test test hypothesis these relationships were mediatedbybychildren’s children’sreports reports of of maternal maternal solicitous the the hypothesis thatthat these relationships were mediated solicitous behavior
Summary
Maternal psychological symptoms and behaviors relate to children’s pain and anxiety. Research in this area is limited by a lack of clarity in determining the specific parental variables of interest, and in understanding the nature of the relationships between parental behaviors and children’s pain [1]. Post-operative pain and distress [6]. The aggregate of these findings points to the coexistence of maternal psychological distress and children’s pain-related distress and pain sensitivity. Even subtle displays of parental fear and anxiety can transmit powerful messages to children regarding the meaning of pain. Children of mothers who Children 2016, 3, 10; doi:10.3390/children3020010 www.mdpi.com/journal/children
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