"Electronic Momentary Assessment of Child Pain, Parent Responses, and Emotion in Children with Arthritis
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The pain experience and functional outcomes of children with arthritis are only partly understood through characteristics of the disease itself. Rather, psychological and social variables appear to be highly influential in these children?s pain reports. Parent responses to a child?s pain have been shown in some populations to be a key determinant of functional impairment from pain, but this has yet to be studied in children with arthritis. The intent of the current preliminary study was to use rigorous prospective methodology to examine in real-time the effect of parent responses to their child?s pain on child function.
METHODS: A sample of 9 children aged 8-16 (M =12 y, 89% female) along with one of their primary caregivers (7 mothers, 2 fathers) was recruited during clinic visits. All children had been diagnosed with polyarticular arthritis (7 JIA; 2 spondyloarthropathy). Two children were characterized as in remission, 3 with mild disease activity, and 5 with moderate to severe disease activity. After demographic and disease severity data were obtained, primary caregivers were given PalmŪ pilots on which they answered items regarding their own emotional state and responses to their child?s pain three times per day for 14 days. During this same time period, children separately responded to items on pain, reduction in school, social, and physical activities, and emotional state on their own PalmŪ device. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling techniques.
RESULTS: Regardless of the child?s baseline disease severity or level of pain intensity, parent ?solicitous? responses (emphasizing passive coping or a focus on pain) predicted the level of total activity reductions (t(185)=3.00, p<.01), as well as reductions in social (t(185)=2.98, p<.01), physical (t(185)=1.88, p=.06), and school activities (t(45)=3.29, p<.01). Such parent responses also significantly predicted lower positive emotion (t(185)=-2.86, p<.01) and higher negative emotion (t(185)=3.00, p<01) in the child. Parents who themselves reported higher levels of positive emotion at a given time were significantly less likely to respond to their child in a solicitous way (t(235)=-3.92, p<.01).
CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight the impact of family context on the pain report of children with arthritis, reinforcing the need for interventions targeting parents as part of the comprehensive care of children with arthritis pain."
Wow - "interventions". Sounds scary.
Argh...this kind of stuff just makes me mad. It's like when women are told their fibromyalgia pain is all in their heads.
It is so troubling that this is what they using their time and resources to study.
I took out the names and institutions, but THREE med schools were involved in this study. Of nine kids (or ten, depending on which part of the study you want to believe).
Oh and here I thought you were saying it was all my mommy's fault that me having JRA, because of her having me at 45 years old.
Ahhhh.... I doubt my mommy had anything to do with either my pain nor my JRA. These medical facilities should focus on searching for a cure not seeing how mom and dad react to their childs pain then how child reacts to mom and dad seeing them in pain.
These kind of studies have also been done on children who have had cancer. It is part and parcel of the research world....
Lynn
So moms of cancer survivors influence their children to still suffer more than necessary???...Oncologists share these rheums opinions that getting mom out of the way would help??? So sad. Like Mekarres said, find a cure, everybody.