Parents with chronic pain: are children equally affected by fathers as mothers in pain? A pilot study

Abstract

This study compared the psychological and physical functioning of 12 children in each of three groups: mothers with chronic pain, fathers with chronic pain and a control, pain-free parents. Parents completed a number of questionnaires including the RAND-36 Health Status Inventory, a child health scale and the Child Behavior Checklist. Children completed the Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale and a scale measuring pain and sickness behaviour. Children of mothers with chronic pain reported the most physical and psychological problems, followed by children of fathers with chronic pain and children from the control group. Pain reports between children and parents with chronic pain were significantly correlated, suggesting support for a familial pain model. Social learning may explain the concordance between parent and child health in families experiencing parental chronic pain.