Exploring the intergenerational transmission of illness behavior: from observations to experimental intervention.

BACKGROUND

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) of childhood is characterized by, among other things, pain with no known physiological cause, and family patterns of related disorders have been reported.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of one FAP research program and highlight some of its key findings from observations of interaction patterns to intervention studies designed to test outcomes of altering these patterns.

METHODS

Studies summarized include observational and experimental research.

RESULTS

Parental response to child pain behaviors appears to be a key factor in the development and maintenance of FAP, and intervention which includes targeting changes in parental responses can decrease reports of pain and other illness behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

Research into FAP can provide valuable information for not only FAP and other unexplained pain conditions, but other medical conditions where environmental responses may play an important role in their etiology and maintenance.