Psychological Factors and Pain Medication Use in Adolescents with Chronic Pain.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the associations between anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing with pain medication use in adolescents with chronic pain; and (2) the extent to which these associations differed as a function of adolescents' sex. Cross-sectional data from 320 adolescents aged 12-18 years old with chronic pain were drawn from an epidemiological study on pediatric chronic pain conducted in Reus (Catalonia, Spain). Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic information and respond to measures assessing pain (location, frequency, intensity, and interference), pain medication use, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing. Point biserial correlations were conducted to examine univariate associations between the psychological variables and pain medication use. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to examine these associations while controlling for demographic characteristics, pain intensity and pain interference. Anxiety, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing were significantly associated with pain medication use in univariate analyses. Regression analysis identified pain catastrophizing as a unique independent predictor of pain medication use after controlling the effect of demographic variables (sex and age), pain intensity, and pain interference (OR = 1.1, p <0.05). No moderation effects of adolescents' sex on the associations between psychological factors and pain medication use was found. Adolescents with chronic pain with higher levels of pain catastrophizing use pain medications more often. Research to examine the impact of interventions targeting pain catastrophizing on pain medication use among adolescents with chronic pain would be an important next step.