Reframe the Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parent-Led Memory-Reframing Intervention.

Negatively-biased pain memories (ie, recalling more pain as compared to earlier reports) are a robust predictor of future pain experiences. This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of a memory-reframing intervention to reframe children's pain memories. Sixty-five children (54% girls, Mage=5.35 years) underwent a tonsillectomy and reported their levels of post-surgical pain intensity and pain-related fear. 2 weeks post-surgery, children and 1 of their parents were randomized to the memory-reframing intervention or control group. Following control/intervention instructions, parents and children reminisced about the past surgery as they normally would (control) or using the memory-reframing strategies (intervention). Children recalled their post-surgical pain intensity and pain-related fear one week later. Parents reported the intervention's acceptability. Recruitment statistics were used to assess feasibility. Controlling for initial pain intensity ratings and using the Faces Pain Scale Revised, children in the intervention group reported more accurate/positively-biased memories for day 1 post-surgery pain intensity (M = 2.60/10; 95% CI, 1.62 to 3.68), compared to children in the control group (M = 4.11/10; 95% CI, 3.12 to 5.03), ηp2 = .07, p = .040. The intervention was acceptable and feasible. Optimal parent-child reminiscing about a past pain experience resulted in children remembering their pain more accurately/positively. Clinicaltrials.gov:NCT03538730. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents results of the first randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of parent-led memory-reframing intervention to change children's memories for pain. Children of parents who were taught and engaged in optimal reminiscing about a past surgery experience remembered their pain intensity more accurately/positively.

Parent-Child Reminiscing about Past Pain as a Preparatory Technique in the Context of Children's Pain: A Narrative Review and Call for Future Research.

Pain permeates childhood and remains inadequately and/or inconsistently managed. Existing research and clinical practice guidelines have largely focused on factors influencing the immediate experience of pain. The need for and benefits of preparing children for future pain (e.g., painful procedures) has been well established. Despite being a robust predictor of future pain and distress, memories of past painful experiences remain overlooked in pediatric pain management. Just as autobiographical memories prepare us for the future, children's memories for past pain can be harnessed to prepare children for future painful experiences. Children's pain memories are malleable and can be reframed to be less distressing, thus reducing anticipatory distress and promoting self-efficacy. Parents are powerful agents of change in the context of pediatric pain and valuable historians of children's past painful experiences. They can alter children's pain memories to be less distressing simply by talking, or reminiscing, about past pain. This narrative review summarizes existing research on parent-child reminiscing in the context of acute and chronic pediatric pain and argues for incorporation of parent-child reminiscing elements into preparatory interventions for painful procedures.

The effect of neuroticism on the recall of persistent low-back pain and perceived activity interference.

UNLABELLED: The assessment of persistent pain often relies on recalling and then summarizing the entire pain experience using a single rating. Newer methodologies, such as the Original Pain Recall Assessment, ask people to recall the pain they experienced over a specific period of time by tracing a single line in a graph to represent their pain levels. One advantage of this approach is that one can compare recalled levels of pain with actual daily diary pain ratings. This methodology was used to investigate the effects of neuroticism on the recall of levels and patterns of persistent pain. The study involved 70 participants who completed a measure of neuroticism, depressive symptoms, and up to 15 daily diaries that asked for ratings of pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, and activity interference due to pain. Following completion of the daily diary period, the participants were asked to recall the entire diary period using the Original Pain Recall Assessment methodology. The analyses revealed that higher levels of neuroticism were related to significantly better recall of the variability of pain unpleasantness over time. Furthermore, individuals who reported higher levels of depressive symptoms were less accurate in the recall of pain in general. PERSPECTIVE: Memory for pain is crucial in the assessment of pain, with little research devoted to the study of this topic. The current study demonstrates that people higher on neuroticism had better recall of pain unpleasantness, and people with higher levels of depressive symptoms had poorer recall of pain in general.