What’s the right answer? Parent and youth perceptions of teacher responses to pain behaviors in the classroom

ABSTRACT

The current study aimed to examine 1) an adaptation of the Adult Responses to Child Symptoms scale focused on assessing perceptions of teachers’ responses to youth pain in the classroom and 2) whether perceptions of differential treatment due to pain at school are associated with certain outcomes. Youth with chronic pain (n = 129) and a parent completed the Teacher Response to Child Symptoms scale (TRCS) in addition to pain-related and psychosocial questionnaires. Participants were included if they had a physician-confirmed chronic pain condition of at least three months’ duration and were enrolled in a structured school setting. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor solution would be most appropriate for the TRCS structure. Individual factor scores were associated with functional disability and school impairment. Future research should examine the potential for increasing teachers’ ability to respond to pain in ways that promote adaptive school function.

Acknowledgments

This work was previously presented in poster format at the Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference (SPPAC) in Orlando, FL (2018). All individuals who have made substantial contributions to this work have been included in authorship.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Financial Disclosure

The authors have no financial or other conflicts of interest to report in relation to this study.

Additional information

Funding

Sara Page Mayo Endowment for Pediatric Pain Research and Treatment (to Charles Berde MD, PhD).