Adolescents' pain experiences following acute blunt traumatic injury: struggle for internal control.
OBJECTIVE
Although blunt trauma injury is a common cause for adolescent pain, little is known about the experience of pain as perceived by adolescents.


METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 adolescents following blunt trauma injury. Two age-appropriate valid measures (i.e., Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool and Temporal Dot Matrix) were incorporated into the interviews to elaborate their pain experiences. Grounded theory method was used to analyze data and build substantive theory.


RESULTS
Adolescents' behavioral and cognitive actions (i.e., "internal control") to manage and endure pain were influenced by their pain perceptions, physical losses, and clinicians' actions.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses, family members, and peers have a crucial role in alleviating adolescents' distress and pain.
Crandall
Margie
M
Center for Nursing Research, University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA. margie.crandall@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Kools
Susan
S
Miaskowski
Christine
C
Savedra
Marilyn
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000298:Adolescent, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications*