Systematic review of family functioning in families of children and adolescents with chronic pain

摘要

Disturbances in family functioning have been identified in youth with chronic pain and are associated with worse child physical and psychological functioning. Assessment measures of family functioning used in research and clinical settings vary. This systematic review summarizes studies investigating relationships among family functioning, pain and pain-related disability in youth with chronic pain. Sixteen articles were reviewed. All studies were cross-sectional, seven utilized between-group comparisons (chronic pain versus healthy/control) and twelve examined within-group associations among family functioning, pain and/or pain-related disability. Studies represented youth with various pain conditions (e.g., headache, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia) aged 6 – 20 years. Findings revealed group differences in family functioning between children with chronic pain and healthy controls in five of seven studies. Significant associations emerged among family variables and pain-related disability in six of nine studies with worse family functioning associated with greater child disability; relationships between family functioning and children’s pain were less consistent. Different patterns of results emerged depending on family functioning measure used. Overall, findings showed that families of children with chronic pain generally have poorer family functioning than healthy populations, and that pain-related disability is more consistently related to family functioning than pain intensity.