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Maladaptive Coping and Depressive Symptoms Partially Explain the Association Between Family Stress and Pain-Related
Bonney Reed-Knight1,2,3, Miranda A L van Tilburg4, Rona L Levy5
1Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
Objective:
To extend existing research on the pain burden experienced by youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by examining the complexity of psychosocial factors involved in pain-related distress.
Methods:
Parents completed measures of family stress and their child's pain-related expressions of distress and coping. Youth with IBD rated their depressive symptoms (n = 183 dyads). Mediation analyses were performed using regression-based techniques and bootstrapping.
Results:
Greater family stress was positively related to children's pain-related expressions of distress and passive coping. Significant indirect effects were found in the relationship between family stress and expressed pain-related distress through parent-reported passive coping, depressive symptoms, and both passive coping and depressive symptoms sequentially.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that family stress can place children at risk for greater expressed pain-related distress through effects on coping and depressive symptoms. Addressing psychosocial difficulties is important for closing the gap between disability and health in youth with IBD.
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