title: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Adolescents with Functional Somatic Syndromes: A Pilot Cohort Study.
abstract: To assess the feasibility of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for adolescents with widespread chronic pain and other functional somatic symptoms and to make preliminary assessments of its clinical utility.
  
  
  
  Three cohorts of subjects completed an 8-week MBSR program. Child- and parent-completed measures were collected at baseline and 8 and 12 weeks later. Measures included the Functional Disability Inventory (FDI), the Fibromyalgia/Symptom Impact Questionnaire-Revised (FIQR/SIQR), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale (MASC2), and the Perceived Stress Scale. Subjects and parents were interviewed following the program to assess feasibility.
  
  
  
  Fifteen of 18 subjects (83%) completed the 8-week program. No adverse events occurred. Compared with baseline scores, significant changes were found in mean scores on the FDI (33% improvement, P = .026), FIQR/SIQR (26% improvement, P = .03), and MASC2 (child: 12% improvement, P = .02; parent report: 17% improvement, P = .03) at 8 weeks. MASC2 scores (child and parent) and Perceived Stress Scale scores were significantly improved at 12 weeks. More time spent doing home practice was associated with better outcomes in the FDI and FIQR/SIQR (44% and 26% improvement, respectively). Qualitative interviews indicated that subjects and parents reported social support as a benefit of the MBSR class, as well as a positive impact of MBSR on activities of daily living, and on pain and anxiety.
  
  
  
  MBSR is a feasible and acceptable intervention in adolescents with functional somatic syndromes and has preliminary evidence for improving functional disability, symptom impact, and anxiety, with consistency between parent and child measures.
  
  
  
  ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02190474.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics; Department of Medicine. Electronic address: ather.ali@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Ather
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics.
authors.forename: Theresa R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.affiliation: Schools of Nursing and Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.
authors.forename: Kim D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: Susmita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashikar-Zuck
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center; Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Wendy K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Eugene D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D020379:Risk Adjustment; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: chronic pain; fibromyalgia; irritable bowel syndrome; quality of life