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Going to the doctors: the views of mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain

Objectives  to explore how mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain view seeking medical help on behalf of their children. Design  qualitative interview study. Setting  paediatric clinics and schools. Participants  purposive sample of 28 mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain. Ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child : care, health & development health & development, 2005-05, Vol.31 (3), p.265-273
Main Authors: Smart, S., Cottrell, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Objectives  to explore how mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain view seeking medical help on behalf of their children. Design  qualitative interview study. Setting  paediatric clinics and schools. Participants  purposive sample of 28 mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain. Main outcome measures  Beliefs concerning recurrent abdominal pain, the respective roles of doctors and mothers and the nature and quality of interactions with doctors. Results  Mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain reported shaping the way they discussed the child's problem with doctors according to their beliefs about their own roles and the beliefs they perceived doctors to hold about recurrent abdominal pain. Where they were seeking help in managing the pain, they often felt undermined and threatened and responded to this by stressing the physical aspects of the child's presentation. Conclusions  Doctors may need to acknowledge actively mothers’ competence in order to establish a therapeutic alliance.
ISSN:0305-1862
1365-2214
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2005.00506.x