• Laura A Cousins, Lindsey L Cohen, and Claudia Venable.
• Department of Psychology, Georgia State University.
• J Pediatr Psychol. 2015 Oct 1; 40 (9): 934-42.

ObjectiveFear of pain and pain catastrophizing are prominent risk factors for pediatric chronic pain-related maladjustment. Although resilience has largely been ignored in the pediatric pain literature, prior research suggests that optimism might benefit youth and can be learned. We applied an adult chronic pain risk-resilience model to examine the interplay of risk factors and optimism on functioning outcomes in youth with chronic pain.MethodParticipants included 58 children and adolescents (8-17 years) attending a chronic pain clinic and their parents. Participants completed measures of fear of pain, pain catastrophizing, optimism, disability, and quality of life.ResultsConsistent with the literature, pain intensity, fear of pain, and catastrophizing predicted functioning. Optimism was a unique predictor of quality of life, and optimism contributed to better functioning by minimizing pain-related fear and catastrophizing.ConclusionsOptimism might be protective and offset the negative influence of fear of pain and catastrophizing on pain-related functioning.© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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