• Sara E Williams, Ronald L Blount, and Lynn S Walker.
• Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. sara.williams@childrens.harvard.edu
• J Pediatr Psychol. 2011 Jan 1;36(1):55-63.

ObjectiveWe tested the hypothesis that pain threat appraisal and catastrophizing by children with functional abdominal pain (FAP) will moderate the relation between parent verbal behavior and children's symptom complaints following experimentally induced visceral discomfort.MethodsThirty-three pediatric patients with FAP and their parents participated. Children completed measures of pain threat appraisal and catastrophizing. Weeks later they completed the Water Load Symptom Provocation Test to induce visceral discomfort. Spontaneous parent-child interactions during child discomfort were audiotaped and coded for content.ResultsParent symptom-related talk was associated with more child symptom complaints and parent non-symptom-related talk with fewer child complaints. The relation between symptom talk and complaints was greater for children with high catastrophizing. Non-symptom talk was associated with fewer complaints for children with high threat appraisals.ConclusionsChild characteristics should be considered in research on the relation between parent behavior and children's symptom complaints.

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