Anxiety and Somatic Complaints in Children with Recurrent Abdominal Pain and Anxiety Disorders

Objective To compare anxiety symptoms and disorders in children and adolescents with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP), anxiety disorders, and healthy control children. Methods Twenty-one children with RAP (nine males, mean age = 11.05) were compared to 21 children with anxiety disorders (11 males, mea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric psychology 2009-03, Vol.34 (2), p.176-186
Main Authors: Dufton, Lynette M., Dunn, Madeleine J., Compas, Bruce E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdominal Pain - diagnosis
Abdominal Pain - epidemiology
Adolescent
adolescents
anxiety
Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child clinical studies
children
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Recurrence
recurrent pain
Sections on Quality of Life in Chronic Conditions
Severity of Illness Index
Somatoform Disorders - epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Objective To compare anxiety symptoms and disorders in children and adolescents with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP), anxiety disorders, and healthy control children. Methods Twenty-one children with RAP (nine males, mean age = 11.05) were compared to 21 children with anxiety disorders (11 males, mean age = 12.29), and 21 children without pain or anxiety (nine males, mean age = 11.57) using diagnostic interviews and continuous measures of anxiety and other internalizing symptoms. Results Sixty-seven percent of children with RAP met criteria for an anxiety disorder. Children with RAP were higher than well children but not significantly different from children with anxiety on total internalizing and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions RAP and anxiety are closely related. Further understanding between these disorders is essential to understanding the development and progression of RAP, and to inform the prevention and treatment of the disorder.
ISSN:0146-8693
1465-735X
DOI:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn064