Examining pain catastrophizing and parenting in coping with pediatric pain

This application supports two talks presenting research on pain in children at an international conference. It is the unfortunate reality that pain is a common experience for both healthy and sick children. Parents are critical in helping their children to cope with stressors, including pain. My first talk presents findings from a study that examines what parents and children believe about pain, and how that relates to what parents say and do to help their child cope during pain. It also compares how parents and children interact when a child has pain to how they typically interact in everyday life, such as when they argue. The study helps identify parents who struggle to effectively support their children during pain. My second talk reviews all of the randomized clinical treatment studies that have examined whether psychological treatments are helpful for reducing pain and distress in children aged 2-19 years old when they undergo needle procedures. It identifies which psychological treatments are helpful, such as distraction and hypnosis, and which ones are not. The study also tells us which treatments are helpful depending on the type of needle procedure and the age of the child. The talk provides recommendations to researchers so that they can design higher quality studies in the future. This research shares efforts to understand the role of families in children's pain, as well as identify treatments that effectively minimize pain and distress during needles. Information in these talks is useful to health professionals who treat patients and set policy, and by those who conduct research.