MANAGING RECURRENT ABDOMINAL PAIN

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a disorder in children for which there is no identifiable organic cause, yet which has significant societal and personal costs. Previous studies conducted by our group suggest that illness behavior is in part learned during childhood when parents model sick role behavior or respond to their children's somatic complaints in a way that encourages or reinforces sick role behaviors. These results suggest that interventions to teach parents to reduce modeling and reinforcement of illness behavior would be beneficial for children with RAP. The aim of this study is to evaluate a comprehensive social learning and cognitive behavior therapy approach, derived from our previous research, for children with recurrent abdominal pain. Children with RAP (n = 200) will be randomized to either a social learning and cognitive behavior therapy intervention, or an education and support comparison condition (controlling for therapist attention and contact). Information about children's symptoms and illness behaviors, functional disability, health care utilization, parental responses to children's illness behavior, attitudes and beliefs regarding pain, and life stressors will be collected at baseline, end of treatment, and three, six and 12 months post-treatment from both parents and children.