Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2026
Electrophysiological Measurements and Analysis of Nociception in Human Infants
Published on: December 20, 2011
Exploring Parental Responses to Pre-schoolers' "Everyday" Pain Experiences Through Electronic Diary and Ecological
Grace O'Sullivan1,2, Brian McGuire1,2, Michelle Roche1,3,4
1Centre for Pain Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Insights
Digital diaries effectively captured children's everyday pain events, revealing parental supervision reduces pain frequency and parental catastrophizing influences parental responses. Children reported higher pain intensity than parents.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pain Management
- Digital Health Interventions
- Parental Influence on Child Pain
Background:
- Parental influence on children's everyday pain experiences is under-researched compared to clinical or experimental pain.
- Understanding real-world pain events in the home environment is crucial for developing effective support strategies.
- Digital reporting methods offer a novel approach to capture the nuances of pediatric pain in daily life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate two digital reporting methods for parents to document children's everyday pain events within the family home.
- To explore the context, child responses, and parental reactions surrounding everyday pediatric pain.
- To investigate the association between parental supervision, child age/sex, and parental pain perception and distress.
Main Methods:
- Parents (N=21) of children aged 2.5-6 years completed a 14-day e-diary on child pain events, parental supervision, and parental responses.
- A subsample (N=9) also completed digital ecological momentary assessments (EMA) immediately after pain events.
- Data collected included child pain responses, parental estimates of pain, parental catastrophizing, distress, and behaviors.
Main Results:
- Everyday pain events commonly involved minor injuries; parental supervision was associated with fewer pain events and lower parental anxiety.
- Child sex influenced parental pain intensity estimates (higher for girls), while child age affected pain event frequency and parental estimates of pain/distress.
- Parental pain severity estimates predicted parental distress and catastrophizing; higher parental catastrophizing increased parental distress and solicitous behaviors. Children reported higher pain intensity than parents.
Conclusions:
- Electronic pain diaries provide valuable insights into children's everyday pain experiences within the family home.
- Digital daily reporting is a feasible method for studying child pain without disrupting the home environment.
- Findings highlight the significant role of parental perception and behavior in managing children's everyday pain.
Abstract:
Objective: Parental influence during children's "everyday" pain events is under-explored, compared to clinical or experimental pains. We trialed two digital reporting methods for parents to record the real-world context surrounding their child's everyday pain events within the family home. Methods: Parents (N = 21) completed a structured e-diary for 14 days, reporting on one pain event experienced by their child (aged 2.5-6 years) each day, and describing child pain responses, parental supervision, parental estimates of pain severity and intensity, and parental catastrophizing, distress, and behavioral responses. During the same 2-week period, a subsample of parent-child pairs (N = 9) completed digital ecological momentary assessments (EMA), immediately after any chosen pain event. Children reported their current pain while parents estimated the child's pain and indicated their own distress. Results: "Everyday" pain events frequently featured minor injuries to the child's head, hands or knees, and child responses included crying and non-verbal comments (e.g., "Ouch!"). Pain events occurred less frequently when parents had been supervising their child, and supervising parents reported lower levels of worry and anxiety than non-supervising parents. Child sex was significantly associated with parental estimates of pain intensity, with parents of girls giving higher estimates than parents of boys. Child age was significantly associated with both the number of pain events and with parental estimates of pain intensity and child distress: the youngest children (2-3 years) experienced the fewest pain events but received higher pain and distress estimates from parents than older children. Hierarchal Linear Modeling revealed that parental estimates of pain severity were significant positive predictors of parental distress and catastrophizing in response to a specific pain event. Furthermore, higher levels of parental catastrophic thinking in response to a specific pain event resulted in increased distress, solicitousness, and coping-promoting behaviors in parents. The EMA data revealed that children reported significantly higher pain intensity than their parents. Conclusion: The electronic pain diary provided a key insight into the nature of "everyday" pain experiences around the family home. Digital daily reporting of how the family copes with "everyday" events represents a viable means to explore a child's everyday pains without disrupting their home environment.
