Stuck on pain? Assessing children's vigilance and awareness of pain sensations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Attending towards pain is proposed as a key mechanism influencing the experience and chronification of pain. Persistent attention towards pain is proposed to drive poor outcomes in both adults and children with chronic pain. However, there are no validated self-report measures of pain-related attention for children.

Methods

The goals of this study were to adapt the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) for use in a child sample, to preliminary examine its psychometric properties, and to assess its utility over and above a measure of general attentional capacities. We adapted the language of the PVAQ to be more easily understood by children as young as 8 years. In a sample of 160 children (8-18 years) with chronic pain, we examined the factor structure,

SUBMITTER: Heathcote LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7387216 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature