Race Effects on Conditioned Pain Modulation in Youth.

Race and ethnicity shape the experience of pain in adults. African Americans typically exhibit greater pain intensity and evoked pain responsiveness than non-Hispanic whites. However, it remains unclear whether there are racial differences in conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and if these are present in youth.

Heightened Temporal Summation of Pain in Patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and History of Trauma.

Background: Individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) report experiencing trauma more often than healthy controls, but little is known regarding psychophysical correlates.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that adolescents and young adults with FGIDs since childhood and a trauma history (n = 38) would exhibit heightened temporal summation to thermal pain stimuli, an index of central sensitization, and greater clinical symptoms compared to patients with FGIDs and no trauma history (n = 95) and healthy controls (n = 135).

Methods: Participants completed self-report measures, an experimental pain protocol, and psychiatric diagnostic interview as part of a larger longitudinal study.

Race effects on temporal summation to heat pain in youth.

Racial differences in pain responsiveness have been demonstrated in adults. However, it is unclear whether racial differences are also present in youth and whether they extend to experimental pain indices assessing temporal summation of second pain (TSSP). Temporal summation of second pain provides an index of pain sensitivity and may be especially relevant in determining risk for chronic pain.

Lactose-Free Milk or Soy-Based Formulas Do Not Improve Caregivers' Distress or Perceptions of Difficult Infant Behavior.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that caregiver-reported difficulties in infant behavior and caregivers' distress will significantly improve on lactose-free (LF) milk-based or LF soy-based formulas compared with a milk-based, lactose-containing formula.

Methods: In this double-blind randomized controlled trial, infants (mean age: 4.97 weeks) with caregiver-reported feeding problems on a milk-based lactose-containing formula were randomized to receive either LF milk-based (n = 96), LF soy-based (n = 97), or milk-based, lactose-containing (n = 103) formula.

Validation of the Abdominal Pain Index using a revised scoring method.

Objective: Evaluate the psychometric properties of child- and parent-report versions of the four-item Abdominal Pain Index (API) in children with functional abdominal pain (FAP) and healthy controls, using a revised scoring method that facilitates comparisons of scores across samples and time.

Methods: Pediatric patients aged 8-18 years with FAP and controls completed the API at baseline (N = 1,967); a subset of their parents (N = 290) completed the API regarding the child's pain. Subsets of patients completed follow-up assessments at 2 weeks (N = 231), 3 months (N = 330), and 6 months (N = 107).

A developmental analysis of the factorial validity of the parent-report version of the Adult Responses to Children's Symptoms in children versus adolescents with chronic pain or pain-related chronic illness.

Unlabelled: The widely used Adult Responses to Children's Symptoms measures parental responses to child symptom complaints among youth aged 7 to 18 years with recurrent/chronic pain. Given developmental differences between children and adolescents and the impact of developmental stage on parenting, the factorial validity of the parent-report version of the Adult Responses to Children's Symptoms with a pain-specific stem was examined separately in 743 parents of 281 children (7-11 years) and 462 adolescents (12-18 years) with chronic pain or pain-related chronic illness. Factor structures of the Adult Responses to Children's Symptoms beyond the original 3-factor model were also examined.

Functional abdominal pain in childhood and long-term vulnerability to anxiety disorders.

Background: Cross-sectional studies link functional abdominal pain (FAP) to anxiety and depression in childhood, but no prospective study has evaluated psychiatric status in adulthood or its relation to pain persistence.

Methods: Pediatric patients with FAP (n = 332) and control subjects (n = 147) were tracked prospectively and evaluated for psychiatric disorders and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) at follow-up in adolescence and young adulthood (mean age = 20.01 years).

Individual and additive effects of mothers' and fathers' chronic pain on health outcomes in young adults with a childhood history of functional abdominal pain.

Objective: To evaluate effects of mothers' and fathers' chronic pain on health outcomes in adult sons and daughters with a childhood history of functional abdominal pain (FAP).

Method: Adults (n = 319; Mean age = 22.09 years) with a childhood history of FAP reported parental history of chronic pain and their own current health (chronic pain, somatic symptoms, disability, use of medication and health care, illness-related job loss).

Functional abdominal pain patient subtypes in childhood predict functional gastrointestinal disorders with chronic pain and psychiatric comorbidities in adolescence and adulthood.

Although pediatric functional abdominal pain (FAP) has been linked to abdominal pain later in life, childhood predictors of long-term outcomes have not been identified. This study evaluated whether distinct FAP profiles based on patterns of pain and adaptation in childhood could be identified and whether these profiles predicted differences in clinical outcomes and central sensitization (wind-up) on average 9years later. In 843 pediatric FAP patients, cluster analysis was used to identify subgroups at initial FAP evaluation based on profiles of pain severity, gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI symptoms, pain threat appraisal, pain coping efficacy, catastrophizing, negative affect, and activity impairment.