title: Parental Catastrophizing Partially Mediates the Association between Parent-Reported Child Pain Behavior and Parental Protective Responses.
abstract: This study sought to model and test the role of parental catastrophizing in relationship to parent-reported child pain behavior and parental protective (solicitous) responses to child pain in a sample of children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and their parents (n = 184 dyads). Parents completed measures designed to assess cognitions about and responses to their child's abdominal pain. They also rated their child's pain behavior. Mediation analyses were performed using regression-based techniques and bootstrapping. Results supported a model treating parent-reported child pain behavior as the predictor, parental catastrophizing as the mediator, and parental protective responses as the outcome. Parent-reported child pain behavior predicted parental protective responses and this association was mediated by parental catastrophizing about child pain: indirect effect (SE) = 2.08 (0.56); 95% CI = 1.09, 3.30. The proportion of the total effect mediated was 68%. Findings suggest that interventions designed to modify maladaptive parental responses to children's pain behaviors should assess, as well as target, parental catastrophizing cognitions about their child's pain.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Washington, Box 354900, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
authors.forename: Shelby L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356560, 1959 Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Joan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Box 357475, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Lloyd
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8566-8883
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mancl
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Washington, Box 354900, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
authors.forename: Rona L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Levy