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Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ives, LT; Stein, K; Rivera-Cancel, AM; Nicholas, JK; Caldwell, K; Datta, N; Mauro, C; Egger, H; Puffer, E; Zucker, NL
Published in: Children (Basel)
May 27, 2021

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common childhood medical complaints, associated with significant distress and impairment. Little is known about how children understand their pain. Do they attribute it to personal weakness? Do they perceive pain as having global impact, affecting a variety of activities? How do they cope with pain? We explored the pain beliefs of 5- to 9-year-old children with FAP using a novel Teddy Bear Interview task in which children answered questions about a Teddy bear's pain. Responses were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicate that the majority of young children with FAP are optimistic about pain outcomes. Children generated many types of coping strategies for Teddy's pain and adjusted their calibration of Teddy's pain tolerance dependent on the activity being performed. Early warning signs also emerged: a subset of children were pessimistic about Teddy's pain, and several children identified coping strategies that, while developmentally appropriate, could lead to excessive help seeking if not intervened upon (e.g., physician consultation and shot). The Teddy Bear Interview allows children to externalize their pain, making it a useful tool to access cognitive pain constructs in younger children. Thus, these findings highlight the importance of early intervention for childhood FAP.

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Published In

Children (Basel)

DOI

ISSN

2227-9067

Publication Date

May 27, 2021

Volume

8

Issue

6

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 4206 Public health
  • 3213 Paediatrics
 

Citation

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Ives, L. T., Stein, K., Rivera-Cancel, A. M., Nicholas, J. K., Caldwell, K., Datta, N., … Zucker, N. L. (2021). Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis. Children (Basel), 8(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/children8060452
Ives, Lindsay T., Kate Stein, Alannah M. Rivera-Cancel, Julia K. Nicholas, Kristen Caldwell, Nandini Datta, Christian Mauro, Helen Egger, Eve Puffer, and Nancy L. Zucker. “Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis.Children (Basel) 8, no. 6 (May 27, 2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/children8060452.
Ives LT, Stein K, Rivera-Cancel AM, Nicholas JK, Caldwell K, Datta N, et al. Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis. Children (Basel). 2021 May 27;8(6).
Ives, Lindsay T., et al. “Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis.Children (Basel), vol. 8, no. 6, May 2021. Pubmed, doi:10.3390/children8060452.
Ives LT, Stein K, Rivera-Cancel AM, Nicholas JK, Caldwell K, Datta N, Mauro C, Egger H, Puffer E, Zucker NL. Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis. Children (Basel). 2021 May 27;8(6).

Published In

Children (Basel)

DOI

ISSN

2227-9067

Publication Date

May 27, 2021

Volume

8

Issue

6

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 4206 Public health
  • 3213 Paediatrics