Parent Reports of Coping and Stress Responses in Children With Recurrent Abdominal Pain

Objective: To examine relationships among coping, stress responses, pain, somatic symptoms, and anxious/depressed symptoms in a sample of children and adolescents with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). Method: We assessed parents' reports of coping and involuntary responses to stress in relation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric psychology 2002-04, Vol.27 (3), p.215-226
Main Authors: Thomsen, Alexandra Harding, Compas, Bruce E., Colletti, Richard B., Stanger, Catherine, Boyer, Margaret C., Konik, Brian S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdominal Pain - psychology
Adolescent
Anxiety - diagnosis
Anxiety - psychology
anxiety/depression
Arousal
Biological and medical sciences
Child
children
coping
Defense Mechanisms
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Illness and personality
Illness, stress and coping
Internal-External Control
Male
Personality Assessment
Psychology and medicine
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Recurrence
recurrent abdominal pain
somatic symptoms
Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
stress responses
Stress, Psychological - complications
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Summary:Objective: To examine relationships among coping, stress responses, pain, somatic symptoms, and anxious/depressed symptoms in a sample of children and adolescents with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). Method: We assessed parents' reports of coping and involuntary responses to stress in relation to pain, somatic symptoms, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a sample of 174 children and adolescents with RAP. Results: Based on parent reports, children's primary control engagement coping (e.g., problem solving, emotional modulation) and secondary control engagement coping (e.g., acceptance, distraction, positive thinking) in response to pain were associated with fewer somatic complaints and symptoms of anxiety and depression; secondary control engagement coping was also associated with less pain. Involuntary engagement (e.g., physiological reactivity, rumination) and disengagement (e.g., escape, inaction) responses to pain were associated with more somatic symptoms and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Conclusions: We highlight implications of these findings for understanding processes of coping and stress reactivity in children with RAP.
ISSN:0146-8693
1465-735X
1465-735X
DOI:10.1093/jpepsy/27.3.215