Attentional bias to pain and social threat in pediatric patients with functional abdominal pain and pain-free youth before and after performance evaluation.

This study investigated attentional biases for pain and social threat versus neutral stimuli in 54 youth with functional abdominal pain (FAP) and 53 healthy control subjects (ages 10 to 16 years). We assessed attentional bias using a visual probe detection task (PDT) that presented pain and social threat words in comparison to neutral words at conscious (1250 ms) and preconscious (20 ms) presentation rates. We administered the PDT before and after random assignment of participants to a laboratory stressor--failure versus success feedback regarding their performance on a challenging computer game.

Parent attention versus distraction: impact on symptom complaints by children with and without chronic functional abdominal pain.

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of parent attention and distraction on symptom complaints by children with and without chronic functional abdominal pain. The water load symptom provocation task was used to induce visceral discomfort in pediatric patients with abdominal pain (N=104) and well children (N=119), ages 8-16 years. Parents were randomly assigned and trained to interact with their children according to one of three conditions: Attention, Distraction, or No Instruction.

Children's appraisal and coping with pain: relation to maternal ratings of worry and restriction in family activities.

Objective: To examine the relation of children's pain severity, perceived pain threat, and passive coping to maternal worry and family activities.

Methods: We assessed pain severity, perceived threat (conceptualized as beliefs about pain seriousness and coping ability), and coping strategies in 130 patients with chronic abdominal pain. Mothers rated the impact of the child's health on maternal worry and family activities.

Recurrent abdominal pain: symptom subtypes based on the Rome II Criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders.

Objectives: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common childhood complaint rarely associated with organic disease. Recently, the Pediatric Rome Criteria were developed to standardize the classification of pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) using a symptom-based approach. The authors tested the hypothesis that most patients with childhood RAP could be classified into one or more of the symptom subtypes defined by the Pediatric Rome Criteria.