title: Exploring the intergenerational transmission of illness behavior: from observations to experimental intervention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Functional abdominal pain (FAP) of childhood is characterized by, among other things, pain with no known physiological cause, and family patterns of related disorders have been reported.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of one FAP research program and highlight some of its key findings from observations of interaction patterns to intervention studies designed to test outcomes of altering these patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies summarized include observational and experimental research.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parental response to child pain behaviors appears to be a key factor in the development and maintenance of FAP, and intervention which includes targeting changes in parental responses can decrease reports of pain and other illness behaviors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Research into FAP can provide valuable information for not only FAP and other unexplained pain conditions, but other medical conditions where environmental responses may play an important role in their etiology and maintenance.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, 98105, USA. rlevy@uw.edu
authors.forename: Rona L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D055809:Illness Behavior; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome; D008960:Models, Psychological; D019370:Observation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D016730:Program Development