Parent Pain Catastrophizing Mediates the Relationship Between Child Pain Catastrophizing and School-Related...

This study examined whether child and parent pain catastrophizing were associated with school functioning in youth with chronic pain. Relationships between catastrophizing and school absences, school tardiness, and academic performance were evaluated, and parent catastrophizing was tested as a potential mediator between child catastrophizing and school outcomes.

Youth with chronic pain and their caregivers completed measures of pain catastrophizing and school functioning (school absences, school tardiness, grade point average [GPA]). Correlations, linear regressions, and PROCESS Model 4 mediation analyses were conducted. School functioning was also compared between youth attending in-person versus homeschool or online.

Participants were 559 (Mage=15.2) predominantly female (76.9%) and white (90.7%) youth with chronic pain. Youth enrolled in homeschool or online had significantly higher child and parent catastrophizing than those attending in-person school. Parent pain catastrophizing was significantly associated with more absences, more tardiness, and lower GPA. Child catastrophizing was only correlated with increased absences. When both were entered into the same models, parent catastrophizing remained a significant predictor of absences and tardiness, whereas the association between child catastrophizing and absences was no longer significant. Mediation analyses demonstrated parent catastrophizing fully mediated the association between child catastrophizing and school absences; no mediation effects were observed for tardiness or GPA.

Parent pain catastrophizing appears to play a critical role in school attendance for youth with chronic pain and mediates the association between child catastrophizing and school absences. Findings highlight the importance of addressing parent cognitions in interventions targeting school engagement.