Parental Chronic Pain Impacts Pain in Teens, Young Adults

Adolescents with parents with chronic nonspecific pain more likely to experience chronic pain

TUESDAY, Nov. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Parental chronic nonspecific pain significantly impacts pain in adolescent and young adult offspring, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Gry B. Hoftun, M.D., of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study involving 8,200 inhabitants of Nord-Trøndelag County, aged 13 years and older. The authors sought to examine the possible association between chronic pain in adolescents and young adults with parental chronic pain.

The researchers found that, among adolescents and young adults, the odds of chronic nonspecific and chronic multisite pain were increased for those with maternal chronic pain (odds ratio, 1.5), for those with paternal chronic pain, and for those with both parents reporting pain. The results were not altered by adjustment for socioeconomic and psychological factors but were altered by differences in family structure. Maternal pain was clearly linked to pain among adolescents and young adults who lived primarily with their mothers, while no association was seen for paternal pain.

"Parental chronic pain is associated with chronic nonspecific pain and especially with chronic multisite pain in adolescents and young adults," the authors write. "Family structure influences the relationship, indicating that family pain models and shared environmental factors are important in the origin of chronic pain."

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Powered by