ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is a prevalent health condition associated with parenting difficulties. Pain-specific parenting, such as protectiveness and catastrophizing, may contribute to chronic pain in children. Additional work is needed to test predictors of pain-specific parenting. Aim: The current study tested parent mental health symptoms as predictors of protectiveness and catastrophizing about child pain and whether comorbid pain and mental health symptoms exacerbate risk for problematic responses to children's pain. METHODS: Parents with chronic pain (n = 62) and parents without chronic pain (n = 80) completed self-report questionnaires assessing pain characteristics, mental health symptoms, and pain-specific parenting responses. RESULTS: Results indicated significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and somatization in parents with chronic pain. Depression predicted protectiveness and catastrophizing over and above chronic pain status. Chronic pain status moderated the association between increased anxiety and greater catastrophizing about child pain. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the potential impact of mental health symptoms on pain-specific parenting even when accounting for chronic pain status.
CONTEXTE: La douleur chronique est un problème de santé courant associé à certaines difficultés en matière de pratiques parentales. Les pratiques parentales spécifiques à la douleur, telles que la protection et la dramatisation, peuvent contribuer à la douleur chronique chez l'enfant. Des études additionnelles sont nécessaires afin de tester les prédicteurs des pratiques parentales spécifiques à la douleur. BUT: La présente étude cherchait à savoir si les symptômes de troubles mentaux étaient de bons prédicteurs d'une attitude protectrice et de la dramatisation de la douleur chez l'enfant et si la comorbidité de la douleur et des symptômes de troubles mentaux exacerbait le risque de réponses problématiques à la douleur de l'enfant. MÉTHODES: Des parents souffrant de douleur chronique (n = 62) et des parents sans douleur chronique (n = 80) ont répondu à un questionnaire d'autoévaluation portant sur les caractéristiques de la douleur, les symptômes de troubles mentaux et les réponses parentales à la douleur. RÉSULTATS: Les résultats ont indiqué des taux de dépression, d'anxiété et de somatisation plus élevés chez les parents souffrant de douleur chronique. La dépression était un prédicteur de la protection et de la dramatisation en plus de l'état de douleur chronique. L'état de douleur chronique modérait l'association entre l'augmentation de l'anxiété et une plus grande dramatisation de la douleur chez l'enfant. CONCLUSIONS: Les résultats mettent en lumière l'effet potentiel des symptômes de troubles mentaux sur les pratiques parentales spécifiques à la douleur, même lorsque l'on tient compte de l'état de douleur chronique.
ABSTRACT
Neighborhood features such as community socioeconomic status, recreational facilities, and parks have been correlated to the health outcomes of the residents living within those neighborhoods, especially with regard to health-related quality of life, body mass index, and physical activity. The interplay between one's built environment and one's perceptions may affect physical health, well-being, and pain experiences. In the current study, neighborhood characteristics and attitudes about physical activity were examined in a high-risk (youths with a parent with chronic pain) and low-risk (youths without a parent with chronic pain) adolescent sample. There were significant differences in neighborhood characteristics between the high-risk (n = 62) and low-risk (n = 77) samples (ages 11-15), with low-risk participants living in residences with more walkability, closer proximity to parks, and higher proportion of neighborhood residents having college degrees. Results indicate that neighborhood features (e.g., walkability and proximity to parks), as well as positive attitudes about physical activity were correlated with lower levels of pain and pain-related disability, and higher performance in physical functioning tests. These findings suggest that the built environment may contribute to pain outcomes in youth, above and beyond the influence of family history of pain.