New research suggests that children may be more likely to develop ongoing pain if one of their parents complains of constant pain.
“Children are careful observers of everything that we do as parents, and how we respond to our pain and to their pain is no different, said psychologist Anna Wilson, who led the study.
For their study, researchers asked 178 children between the ages of 11 and 14 to fill out questionnaires that asked about any ongoing physical issues and how often they dealt with pain in their life. Parents of the children were also asked to respond to a similar survey.
Respondents were then asked to fill out a separate survey that asked how they coped with the child’s pain. Parents were asked if they felt helpless or if they believed their child blew the pain out of proportion, while children were asked how they handled their own pain.
Results
Researchers noted:
- About 25 percent of children and 66 percent of parents in the study reported dealing with chronic pain.
- Parental pain was significantly associated with the likelihood of the parent’s child having pain.
- Parents who ‘catastrophize’ their own pain were more likely to have a child who would put greater emphasis on their pain’s importance.
Wilson noted that acting worried or repeated inquiries into a child’s condition could cause a child to stress out over a condition that isn’t even serious.
“Unfortunately, we know from many research studies that this (misplaced) worry tends to make pain worse,” said Wilson. “Being a parent is hard; pain just makes it harder.”
Wilson concluded by saying the best way to help a child in pain is by treating the condition like a short-term illness, like a headache or sprained ankle. If you suffer from chronic pain, do your best to hide the pain in front of your child, and seek medical attention if you think your pain may be affecting your children.
“If you are a parent who has chronic pain and you are worried about how it might be impacting your child, talk with your own doctor, a pain psychologist or your child’s doctor,” Wilson said.
Related source: Reuters, The Frontier Post