Parent responses to pediatric headache

Evaluated child and parent report versions of a 16-item parent response to children's recurrent pain episodes scale (PR-PAIN) on a sample of 153 pediatric headache patients. Factor analyses yielded three factors--Solicitous, Affiliative/Distracting, and Negative responses--for each report form. Correlations among factor scores provided evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Factor scores from the parent and child report scales were differentially related to levels of episode-specific disability and overall behavior problems, supporting the criterion-related validity of both the child and parent measures. The PR-PAIN scale may assist in performing a thorough functional analysis of pediatric headache and other pain-related problems.