title: Provider Communication Regarding Psychosocial Factors Predicts Pain Beliefs in Parent and Child.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the role of provider communication about psychosocial causes of abdominal pain and recommendations for psychosocial intervention during a gastroenterology clinic visit in predicting families' causal beliefs and perceptions of treatment acceptability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 57 children with a diagnosed or suspected abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) presenting for an outpatient gastroenterology follow-up visit and their accompanying parent. Children and parents completed questionnaires assessing child anxiety and abdominal pain severity, recall of provider communication about causes of abdominal pain and recommendations for intervention, their own causal beliefs about pain, and perceived acceptability of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and standard medical treatment (SMT) after reading descriptions of each treatment. Providers completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions and communication about the causes of the child's abdominal pain and perceived acceptability of CBT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Provider communication about psychosocial causes and interventions was reported infrequently by parents, children, and providers. Parents rated psychosocial causes for abdominal pain as less likely than physical causes, and children and parents rated CBT as less acceptable than SMT. Parents' recall of provider communication about psychosocial causes was associated with their own causal beliefs about pain and their perceived acceptability of CBT. Children's and parents' recall of provider recommendations for psychosocial intervention was associated with their perceived acceptability of CBT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results highlight the importance of provider communication about psychosocial contributors to abdominal pain and psychosocial interventions for children with FGIDs. Medical and mental health providers can partner to deliver care to children with FGIDs using a biopsychosocial approach.
authors.affiliation: *Division of Behavioral Health, Department of Pediatrics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE; †Nemours Cardiac Center, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE; ‡Department of Pediatrics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; §Department of Biomedical Research, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE; ‖Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pinder
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Pendley
authors.forename: Alicia O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Prateek D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Wali
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: del Rosario
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D058015:Health Communication / Q000592:standards*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*