Pain catastrophizing predicts verbal expression among children with chronic pain and their mothers

Shelby L. Langer, Joan M. Romano, Qimin Liu, Rona L. Levy, Heather Nielson, Jonathon D. Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined intra-and inter-personal associations between pain catastrophizing and verbal expression in 70 children with recurrent abdominal pain and their mothers. Participants independently completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Mothers and children then talked about the child’s pain. Speech was categorized using a linguistic analysis program. Catastrophizing was positively associated with the use of negative emotion words by both mothers and children. In addition, mothers’ catastrophizing was positively associated with both mothers’ and children’s anger word usage, whereas children’s catastrophizing was inversely associated with mothers’ anger word usage. Findings extend the literature on behavioral and interpersonal aspects of catastrophizing.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalHealth Psychology Open
Volume3
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 7 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Catastrophizing
  • Children
  • Communication
  • Emotions
  • Pain

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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