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24 - Pain in childhood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2009

By
Patrick McGrath  and
Julie Goodman
Edited by
Philip J. Graham
Patrick McGrath
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Julie Goodman
Affiliation:
Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Philip J. Graham
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Health, University College London
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Summary

Introduction

The International Association for the Study of Pain has established a standard definition of pain as: ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage’ (Merskey and Bogduk, 1994, p. 210). Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been used both to influence the presumed cause of pain (usually when the cause is related to ‘stress’) and to ameliorate the sensory and emotional aspects of pain. In this chapter, CBT will be examined in relation to both of these elements in specific pain problems.

There is a wide diversity of pain problems in children and adolescents that can be assisted by CBT. However, discussion will be focused on those problems that are common and for which there is most clinical experience and research. These include: pain from procedures, headache, recurrent abdominal pain and fibromyalgia. Similar strategies used to treat these problems can also be applied to neuropathic pain, pain from sickle cell disease, irritable bowel syndrome and pain from cancer. However, there is little research on disease-related pain interventions.

Why CBT works in pain relief

As will be discussed, there is solid evidence for the effectiveness of CBT in some areas of pain and promising evidence in others. In contrast, there is little or no evidence that simple counselling, psychodynamic or other psychotherapeutic approaches have any effectiveness in paediatric pain.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families , pp. 426 - 442
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Pain in childhood
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.024
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  • Pain in childhood
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.024
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Pain in childhood
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.024
Available formats
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