Parental Protective Responses Research Articles

Biopsychosocial Correlates of Presence and Intensity of Pain in Adolescents With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: There is growing consensus that pain in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not fully explained by disease-related processes. However, previous studies have largely measured individual biological, psychological, or social risk factors for pain in isolation. Further, not all youth with IBD presenting to clinic will report presence of pain, and those who do vary in their reports of pain intensity. This study therefore extends prior research by determining biopsychosocial correlates of both presence and intensity of pain in adolescents with IBD, in order to inform targeted pain management intervention approaches.Methods: Adolescents with IBD followed at SickKids, Toronto, and their parents were consecutively enrolled from outpatient clinic. IBD characteristics (diagnosis, time since diagnosis, patient-reported disease activity) were collected. Adolescents reported on current pain (NRS-10), internalizing symptoms (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), and pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Child). Parents reported on protective responses to child pain (Adult Responses to Child Pain) and pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale-Child). Hurdle models were conducted to examine predictors of presence and intensity of pain in the same model. Biological (patient-reported disease activity, IBD diagnosis subtype, illness duration), psychological (internalizing symptoms, pain catastrophizing), and social (parent pain catastrophizing, parent protective responses) factors were entered as predictors, adjusting for age and sex.Results: Participants included 100 adolescents (12–18; Mean = 15 years) with IBD (60% Crohn's Disease, 40% Ulcerative Colitis or IBD-unclassified) and 76 parents. The majority of the sample was in clinical remission or reported minimal symptoms. Half of participants reported no current pain; for those reporting pain, intensity ranged 1–7 (M = 3.43, SD = 1.98). Disease activity (OR = 53.91, p < 0.001) and adolescent internalizing symptoms (OR = 7.62, p = 0.03) were significant predictors of presence of pain. Disease activity (RR = 1.37, p = 0.03) and parent protective responses (RR = 1.45, p = 0.02) were significant predictors of intensity of pain.Conclusions: Results suggest that the experience of pain in pediatric IBD is biopsychosocially determined. Patient-reported disease activity and internalizing symptoms predicted presence of pain, while disease activity and parent protective responses predicted intensity of pain. While medical intervention in pediatric IBD is focused on disease management, results suggest that depression/anxiety symptoms as well as parent protective responses may be important targets of pain management interventions in pediatric IBD.

Investigating How Parental Instructions and Protective Responses Mediate the Relationship Between Parental Psychological Flexibility and Pain-Related Behavior in Adolescents With Chronic Pain: A Daily Diary Study.

BackgroundParental behavior can influence how well adolescents cope with chronic pain. Previous research has largely focused on how parents negatively impact adolescent functioning. Yet more recent work suggests that parents – and particularly parental psychological flexibility – can foster better adolescent pain-related functioning. In this study we examined if parental protective responses and instructions to engage in activities in the presence of pain mediate the impact of parental psychological flexibility and acceptance of adolescent pain on adolescents’ daily pain-related behavior.MethodFifty-six adolescents with chronic pain (Mage = 14.5 years, 86% girls) and one of their parents (93% mothers) were recruited at initial evaluation at two pediatric pain clinics in the US. Parents completed baseline questionnaires assessing psychologically flexible parenting and acceptance of adolescent pain. Next, parents and adolescents completed a 14-day self-report diary assessing adolescent activity-avoidance and activity-engagement in the presence of pain (adolescent report), and parental protective responses and instructions for their adolescent to engage in activities (parent report).ResultsPsychologically flexible parenting and acceptance of adolescent pain in parents were indirectly related to lower daily adolescent activity-avoidance, via their negative association with daily parental protective responses. Positive associations also emerged between baseline psychologically flexible parenting and overall levels of adolescent activity-engagement via its negative association with overall levels of parental protectiveness across the 14-day period. Psychologically flexible parenting and parental acceptance of adolescent pain were also indirectly related to daily decreases in adolescent activity-avoidance via their association with daily increases in parental activity-engagement instructions. These baseline parental resilience factors were also positively related to overall levels of parental engagement instructions, a route via which an indirect association with both higher overall activity-engagement as well as higher overall activity-avoidance in the adolescent was observed.ConclusionOur findings suggest an (indirect) adaptive role of parental psychological flexibility on adolescent daily pain-related behavior via its impact on parental protective behavior. If our findings replicate, they would suggest that these parental behaviors could be targeted in pain treatments that include both adolescents and their parents. Future research could further examine the impact of parental instructions on pain-related behavior in adolescents with chronic pain.

Parent Attributions of Ambiguous Symptoms in Their Children: A Preliminary Measure Validation in Parents of Children with Chronic Pain.

How parents attribute cause to their child’s physical symptoms is likely important in understanding how the parent responds to the child, as well as the child’s health outcomes, especially within the context of chronic illness. Here, we adapt the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire for parent report (SIQ-PR) and provide preliminary validation in a sample of parents of children with chronic pain (N = 311). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the SIQ-PR structure is consistent with the original measure, with three distinct attribution types: psychological (emotional/affective), somatic (illness/disease), and environmental (situational/transient) causes. All three subscales demonstrated satisfactory to good internal consistency, and temporal stability. Parents typically endorsed more than one attribution for each symptom, indicating that parents of children with chronic pain have a multidimensional interpretation of physical symptoms in their children. Further, parent psychological and somatic attributions, but not environmental attributions, were significantly associated with (i) parent protective responses towards their child, and (ii) the child’s self-reported somatic and psychological symptoms, indicating convergent and divergent validity. The SIQ-PR may be a useful measure for future studies investigating intergenerational and interpersonal models of pediatric chronic pain, and more broadly, to examine parent attributions of children’s ambiguous symptoms within the context of childhood chronic illness.

Parental Catastrophizing Partially Mediates the Association between Parent-Reported Child Pain Behavior and Parental Protective Responses

This study sought to model and test the role of parental catastrophizing in relationship to parent-reported child pain behavior and parental protective (solicitous) responses to child pain in a sample of children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and their parents (n = 184 dyads). Parents completed measures designed to assess cognitions about and responses to their child's abdominal pain. They also rated their child's pain behavior. Mediation analyses were performed using regression-based techniques and bootstrapping. Results supported a model treating parent-reported child pain behavior as the predictor, parental catastrophizing as the mediator, and parental protective responses as the outcome. Parent-reported child pain behavior predicted parental protective responses and this association was mediated by parental catastrophizing about child pain: indirect effect (SE) = 2.08 (0.56); 95% CI = 1.09, 3.30. The proportion of the total effect mediated was 68%. Findings suggest that interventions designed to modify maladaptive parental responses to children's pain behaviors should assess, as well as target, parental catastrophizing cognitions about their child's pain.

Su1108 Relationship of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Psychological Distress to Gastric Emptying in Children Undergoing Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy

and the number of servings of fruits, vegetables, caffeinated beverages, and dariy products consumed on a typical day. RESULTS: Out of 26 cases who completed both questionnaires, N=16 showed an improvement of .1 point in GI symptom scores (on a scale = 0-40), with 10 showing no change (N=6) or worse symptoms (N=4). In the group that showed improvement, the following factors improved as well: Anxiety (M= 5.42 in spring; M= 3.11 in summer, p,0.003), parental protective responses (M=14.7 in spring, M=11.9 in summer, p,0.05), vegetable consumption (M=2.71 in spring, M=1.62 in summer, p,0.048), intense physical activity (M=1.69 in spring, M=1.00 in summer, p,0.024) and sleep quality (M= 31.3 in spring, M=36.1 in summer, p,0.009). The degree of change in pain was correlated with the degree of change in fast food (r=.76), caffeine (r=.63), protectiveness (r=-.36), and free time (r=.40). In the group who did not show improvement in pain or pain deteriorated during the summer, a decrease in stress level (M=2.10 in spring, M=1.50 in summer, p,0.024) was observed. Degree of changes in pain were correlated with degree of changes in skipping of breakfast (r=.45), vegetable consumption (r=-.72), and caffeine (r=.46). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to identify factors that may explain seasonal variation in FAP. If abdominal pain improves, anxiety, sleep quality, vegetable consumption, parental response to child's pain and physical activity also show improvements during the summer. We do not know from this pilot work if these factors cause or result from the changes in abdominal pain. Longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed. This type of research is important in revealing future targets in the prevention and management of FAP.

Adolescent Pain Catastrophizing Mediates the Relationship Between Protective Parental Responses to Pain and Disability Over Time

Examine whether the relation between protective parenting responses to pain and functional disability is mediated by pain catastrophizing in adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain and their parents over time. Adolescents aged 11-18 years and their parents reported on parental protective responses to pain (PPRP), pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), and Functional Disability Inventory (FDI) before Time 1 (T1) and 2 months after Time 2 (T2) an initial interdisciplinary pain clinic evaluation. PCS was a significant mediator of the PPRP-FDI relationship at T1 and T2 for the adolescents and T2 for their parents. A decrease in PPRP over time was associated with T2 PCS, which in turn was associated with T2 FDI for adolescents and their parents. Parental protectiveness is associated with disability indirectly through pain catastrophizing at the initial visit and follow-up. Decreases in parent protectiveness, potentially initiated through the initial evaluation, were related to lower levels of disability at follow-up through pain catastrophizing.

Too sick for school? Parent influences on school functioning among children with chronic pain

Parental responses to children with chronic pain have been shown to influence the extent of the child’s functional disability, but these associations have not been well studied in relation to children’s pain-related school functioning. The current study tests the hypothesis that parental pain catastrophizing and parental protective responses to child pain influence the extent of school impairment in children with chronic pain. A mediational model was tested to determine whether parental protective behaviors serve a mediating role between parental pain catastrophizing and child school impairment. Study participants were a clinical sample of 350 children ages 8–17 years with chronic pain and their parents. Measures of pain characteristics, demographic characteristics, child depressive symptoms, school attendance rates, overall school functioning, parental pain catastrophizing, and parental protective responses to pain were collected. Results show that, controlling for the known influences of pain intensity and child depressive symptoms, parental pain catastrophizing and parental protective responses to child pain each independently predict child school attendance rates and reports of overall school impairment. Parental protectiveness was found to mediate the association between parental cognitions (i.e., parent pain catastrophizing) and child school functioning outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of intervening with parents to foster parental responses to child pain that help children engage and succeed in the school environment despite pain.

Do Parent Protective Responses Mediate the Relation Between Parent Distress and Child Functional Disability Among Children With Chronic Pain?

To examine whether protective parent responses mediate the relation between parent distress and child functioning. At a pain clinic evaluation, 157 families participated. Parents completed measures of global distress (BSI-18), distress in the context of their child's pain (BAP-PIQ), and protective responses to their child's pain. Children completed measures of functional disability and pain. BAP-PIQ subscales were significantly associated with child functional disability, whereas BSI subscales were unrelated. Protective parent responses partially mediated the relation between parent distress and child functional disability for depression, anxiety, and catastrophizing. However, parent protective behavior fully mediated the relationship between parent helplessness and child functional disability, indicating that feelings of parent helplessness did not uniquely contribute to child functional disability. Discussion Results suggest that when treating youth with chronic pain, parental distress in the context of children's pain needs to be addressed.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Children With Functional Abdominal Pain and Their Parents Decreases Pain and Other Symptoms

Unexplained abdominal pain in children has been shown to be related to parental responses to symptoms. This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve outcomes in idiopathic childhood abdominal pain by altering parental responses to pain and children's ways of coping and thinking about their symptoms. Two hundred children with persistent functional abdominal pain and their parents were randomly assigned to one of two conditions-a three-session intervention of cognitive-behavioral treatment targeting parents' responses to their children's pain complaints and children's coping responses, or a three-session educational intervention that controlled for time and attention. Parents and children were assessed at pretreatment, and 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months post-treatment. Outcome measures were child and parent reports of child pain levels, function, and adjustment. Process measures included parental protective responses to children's symptom reports and child coping methods. Children in the cognitive-behavioral condition showed greater baseline to follow-up decreases in pain and gastrointestinal symptom severity (as reported by parents) than children in the comparison condition (time x treatment interaction, P<0.01). Also, parents in the cognitive-behavioral condition reported greater decreases in solicitous responses to their child's symptoms compared with parents in the comparison condition (time x treatment interaction, P<0.0001). An intervention aimed at reducing protective parental responses and increasing child coping skills is effective in reducing children's pain and symptom levels compared with an educational control condition.

Chronic Pain in Adolescence: Parental Responses, Adolescent Coping, and their Impact on Adolescent's Pain Behaviors

The aim of this study was to examine relations among parental responses, adolescent pain coping, and pain behaviors in adolescents with chronic pain. This study included 217 adolescents (12-17 years) evaluated at a multidisciplinary pain clinic and their parents. Adolescents completed measures assessing their pain, pain coping responses, functional disability, and somatic symptoms. Parents reported on their responses to their adolescent's pain. Passive and active coping interacted with parental protective behavior to predict adolescents' pain behaviors. Contrary to expectations, among adolescents who reported infrequent use of passive or active coping strategies, higher levels of parental protective behavior were associated with higher levels of disability and somatic symptoms. Discussion Among adolescents who report infrequent use of passive and active coping responses, parental protective responses to pain may inadvertently promote greater disability and symptom complaints. Parental responses to pain may be an important target to treat adolescent chronic pain.