Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis.

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.

Acceptance-based interoceptive exposure for young children with functional abdominal pain.

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a common childhood somatic complaint that contributes to impairment in daily functioning (e.g., school absences) and increases risk for chronic pain and psychiatric illness. Cognitive behavioral treatments for FAP target primarily older children (9 + years) and employ strategies to reduce a focus on pain. The experience of pain may be an opportunity to teach viscerally hypersensitive children to interpret the function of a variety of bodily signals (including those of hunger, emotions) thereby reducing fear of bodily sensations and facilitating emotion awareness and self-regulation. We designed and tested an interoceptive exposure treatment for younger children (5-9 years) with FAP. Assessments included diagnostic interviews, 14 days of daily pain monitoring, and questionnaires. Treatment involved 10 weekly appointments. Using cartoon characters to represent bodily sensations (e.g., Gassy Gus), children were trained to be "FBI agents" - Feeling and Body Investigators - who investigated sensations through exercises that provoked somatic experience. 24 parent-child dyads are reported. Pain (experience, distress, and interference) and negative affect demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant change with effect sizes ranging from 0.48 to 71 for pain and from 0.38 to 0.61 for pain distress, total pain: X2 (1, n = 24) = 13.14, p < 0.0003. An intervention that helps children adopt a curious stance and focus on somatic symptoms reduces pain and may help lessen somatic fear generally. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02075437.

Examining mental health symptoms in male and female incarcerated juveniles.

Varying risk factors for both incarceration and mental health diagnoses have been identified for female juveniles, highlighting the need for gender-specific assessments and treatment protocols. The purpose of this study is to determine how the prevalence rates of mental health symptoms differ in male and female juvenile offenders. It was hypothesized that the prevalence rates would be greater for females than males. This study found significant differences between males and females on several clinical scales. These findings are consistent with past studies that have identified differences in mental health symptoms between genders.