Paediatric chronic pain as a catalyst for toxic stress

Abstract

Toxic stress, defined as intolerable, lasting, severe stress in the absence of protective relationships, has been proposed to be “the most physiological threatening kind of stressful experience” for youth, in contrast with positive (ie, mild elevations in the physiological stress response) or tolerable (ie, serious but temporary stress response elevations mitigated by protective relationships) stress.1 Abundant research has revealed that toxic stress in childhood (≤18 years of age) is a significant predictor of lifelong health-related consequences.