Female children of alcoholics and chronic back pain.
OBJECTIVE
A case-controlled retrospective design was used in the present investigation with adult women to explore the relationship between chronic and persistent back pain and a history of being raised by an alcoholic caretaker.


METHODS
A sample of 112 females was obtained from a large university primary care health center. Fifty-nine back pain patients served as cases, while 53 females without histories of chronic pain served as controls.


METHODS
Outcome measures consisted of a seven-question physician back pain checklist. The independent variable, being raised by an alcoholic caretaker, was measured by the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST).


RESULTS
Chronic back pain patients scored significantly higher than the nonpain group on the CAST.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that additional research should explore and further define the relationship between a childhood history of being raised by an alcoholic parent and the development of chronic back pain as an adult.
Pecukonis
Edward V
EV
University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. epecukon@ssw.umaryland.edu
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism; D001416:Back Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires