title: The impact of chronic pain in children and adolescents: Development and initial validation of a child and parent version of the Pain Experience Questionnaire.
abstract: Psychosocial factors are crucial for understanding and treating chronic pain in adults, but also in children. For children, very few questionnaires for a multidimensional pain assessment exist. In adults, the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI; [Kerns RD, Turk DC, Rudy TE. The West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHYMPI). Pain 1985;23:345-56]) has been widely used to determine patients' adjustment to chronic pain. Using one section of the MPI as a model, we developed and evaluated the Pain Experience Questionnaire (PEQ) - child and parent version - that assesses the psychosocial impact of chronic pain in children and adolescents. As substantiated by confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 111 children and adolescents (7-18 years) with chronic pain, the child PEQ entails the subscales pain severity, pain-related interference, affective distress and perceived social support. The parent version contains the subscales severity of the child's pain, interference and parental affective distress. Child and parent PEQ subscales were internally consistent. Age was unrelated to PEQ subscale scores. Girls and their mothers endorsed significantly greater pain severity, interference and affective distress. Validity analyses yielded a pattern of correlations with measures of depression, trait anxiety, pain activity, child behaviors, pain-related cognitions, and parenting behavior that is consistent with psychometric data of the adult MPI and previous findings on psychosocial aspects of chronic pediatric pain. Significant differences between children depending on patient status (participants in experimental or treatment studies, outpatients, inpatients) suggest external validity of the PEQ. Despite the preliminary nature of the psychometric evaluation, the child and parent PEQ seem promising for a comprehensive assessment of pediatric pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Central Institute of Mental Health, Square J5, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hohmeister
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zohsel
authors.forename: Marie-Luise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tuttas
authors.forename: Herta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Flor
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011584:Psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires